Top-seeded Radwanska advances at Shenzhen Open

Shenzhen (China), Jan 2 (IANS) World number 3 Agnieszka Radwanska went through an unexpectedly tough battle in the first round at the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Shenzhen Open as she survived three match points to edge past wild card Duan Yinging 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-4 here on Monday.

The Polish player started on a good note before facing a solid comeback from local player Yinging in the second set, reports Xinhua.

The home player showed her great power and move to level the match with a 7-4 win in the tie-break.

Yinging could have sealed the victory in the 10th game of the decider, but all her three match points were saved by the defending champion. After breaking again in the 12th game, the top seed finally claimed her first victory in the new season.

"The first match in any tournament is always difficult. I'm very happy to win today, because it is a really tough game. Duan played really well. Although her rank is not very high, her power and serve are pretty good," Radwanska said.

"I'm satisfied with my performance today because I have given out what I got in the winter training. I'm not as good as top players when facing key points. I was thinking too much when the match points came out," said the 103rd ranked home player."

In another match, second seed Simona Halep of Romania came back in the decider after a hiccup in the second set, defeating former world number one Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to advance into the second round.

"I feel really good to win the game. It's a tough one and Jelena is a pretty good player, also former world number one. I know it won't be easy today. But I'm really happy to have this game at the beginning of the season, " the 25-year-old player said.

Halep is going to play Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the second round, who knocked out home star Peng Shuai in two straight sets 6-3, 7-5.