Radwanska survives first-round Shenzen fight

TOP seed and defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska, of Poland, scraped a hard-fought 6-2 6-7(4) 7-5 victory against lower-ranked Ying-Ying Duan at the WTA Shenzhen Open yesterday to advance to the second round.

Radwanska, ranked third in the world, took nearly 2½ hours to overcome a stiff challenge from her 103rdranked Chinese opponent, winning fewer of her first service points but slamming down seven aces to Duan’s four.

The Pole saved three match points in the third set on her way to claiming victory.

Second seed Simona Halep, of Romania, triumphed in a three-set thriller 6-1 3-6 6-3 over Jelena Jankovic, of Serbia, formerly the world’s top-ranked female player.

Halep bounced back after a secondset loss to win a place in the second round against Katerina Siniakova, who defeated hometown favourite Shuai Peng 6-3 7-5.

Third seed Johanna Konta, of Britain, made a strong start to the tournament with a dominant 6-2 6-0 win over Caga Buyukakcay, taking less than an hour to defeat her Turkish opponent.

Meanwhile, David Ferrer sent local favourite Bernard Tomic packing with an easy 6-3 7-5 win in the opening round of the Brisbane International yesterday.

The eighth-seeded Spaniard capitalised on Tomic’s poor serve, breaking the Australian three times to clinch the first set at the Pat Rafter Arena.

They traded service holds through the second set until the final game when Tomic’s eighth double fault sealed Ferrer’s comprehensive win.

He faces another Australian, wildcard Jordan Thompson, in the second round.

In the women’s event, fourth seed Garbine Muguruza staved off Samantha Stosur’s spirited comeback, prevailing 7-5 6-7(2) 7-5 in a three-hour battle that ended in disappointment for the partisan crowd.

Last year’s French Open champion saved three set points to surge ahead and broke Stosur twice early in the second set.

Stosur mounted a strong reply, racing into a 4-2 lead in the decider before Muguruza staged a comeback of her own to book her place in the second round against Daria Kasatkina.

Sixth seed Elina Svitolina eased into the second round with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Olympic champion Monica Puig.