Shenzhen Open: Agnieszka Radwanska cruises into second round, Johanna Konta survives

Shenzhen: Top seed and world number three Agnieszka Radwanska made short work of her second round opponent at the WTA Shenzhen Open on Tuesday. The Pole disposed of Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 6-0, 6-3 in an hour and 18 minutes. Cirstea, ranked 78th in the world, lost more than half the points she served and faced 14 break points, losing six of them. [caption id=“attachment_3186302” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Agnieszka Radwanska in action at the Shenzhen Open. Getty[/caption] It was a contrast to the defending champion’s first-round match on Monday, when she took nearly two and a half hours to overcome a stiff challenge from a 103rd-ranked Chinese opponent. Britain’s Johanna Konta, who has begun 2017 as a top 10 player for the first time in her career, had a scare of her own against 77th-ranked Vania King of the US on Tuesday, losing the first set 1-6. Konta recovered to prevail 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 35 minutes. But unseeded home player Wang Qiang caused an upset, putting out seventh seed Monica Niculescu of Romania 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, in a gruelling encounter that lasted more than two hours even though the pair only played two sets. In the day’s other singles match at the $750,000 tournament in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, American eighth seed Alison Riske beat Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova 6-1, 6-1.