TIMEA BACSINSZKY of Switzerland pulled out of the 2017 WTA Shenzhen Open yesterday due to an uncomfortableness in her left abdomen while other seeded players fared well at the start of the tournament, according to the organizing committee.

    “I’m pretty sad about the withdrawal today. I was really looking forward to play here in Shenzhen because I have really good memory of this tournament,” said the Swiss.

    Monica Niculescu and Alison Riske found their way into the second round after beating two home players respectively Sunday.

    The seventh seed, Romania’s Niculescu bounced back from a 7-5 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.

    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 match day. She knocked out Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 to set up a second round meeting with Niculescu.

    “It was my debut of the year and I’m feeling really good today. I practiced on my serve at least one hour everyday during the winter training and it seemed to have some effect today because I delivered 5 Aces,” said the 24-year-old Wang.

    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 Bacsinszky 7-6 (9-7), 6-3.

    Shenzhen Open, inaugurated in 2013, has the highest prize money of any International tier event on the calendar, totaling US$750,000.

    (Xinhua)