Seeded players start well in WTA Shenzhen Open

Shenzhen (China), Jan 1 (IANS) Seeded players fared well at the start of the $750,000 WTA Shenzhen Open tennis tournament as both Monica Niculescu and Alison Riske found their way to the second round after beating two home players respectively here on Sunday.

Romanian seventh seed Niculescu bounced back from a 5-7 loss to home wild card Zhang Kailin in the first set and easily took two straight sets 6-1, 6-3 to book a spot in the last 16, reports Xinhua.

Last year's finalist Riske, seeded eighth, went through two tough tie-breakers to beat 23-year-old home player Zhu Lin 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) in two hours and 11 minutes.

Wang Qiang, who ranked 72nd in the world, is the only Chinese singles player who claimed a victory on the first matchday. She knocked out Russia's Evgeniya Rodina in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 to set up a second round meeting with Niculescu.

Former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia advanced to the doubles' second round with Katerina Siniakova from Czech Republic after beating Britain's Johanna Konta and Swiss player Timea Bacsinszky 7-6 (9-7), 6-3.