China's Zheng, German players advance at Dubai Ladies Tennis Open

Zheng Saisai of China won here Monday her third qualifier match and her first double match of the Dubai Duty Free (DDF) Tennis Championships 2016, while German players Andrea Petkovic and Julia Goerges secured their tickets into the second round.

Chinese elite player Zheng reached the first round of the DDF Tennis Championships by beating Varvara Lepchenko of the United States 7-5, 6-1.

Zheng also won her first double match of the 16th Women's Tennis Association (WTA) year of the Dubai Tennis Open which runs in its 24th edition (DDF Tennis was originally an all-men's tournament). Together with her teammate Xu Yifan, Zheng defeated the Omani-Bulgarian tandem Fatma Al-Nabhani and Tsvetana Pironkova 4-6, 6-2, 10-8.

Zheng, currently the number 70 in the WTA world ranking, said she feels in a very good condition, mentally and physically, "and I like the warm weather in Dubai and the hard courts of the DDF Tennis Stadium are very good, too."

Germany's Anna-Lena Friedsam who caught a cold on her way from cold Frankfurt to sunny Dubai by plane, lost amid 24 degrees Celsius in Dubai against Zvetana Pironkova from Bulgaria 7-5, 5-7, 3-6.

Yaroslava Shvedova, a Russian who has been playing for Kazakhstan since 2008, won 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 against Czech elite player Denisa Allertova.

Madison Brengle from the United States kicked out Russia's Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 7-5.

Monday also marked the start of the first round of elite women's players who are among the world's top 30.

German player Petkovic, ranked 23 in the WTA list, won on the center court 6-2, 6-1 over Italy's Camilla Giorgi. Aged 28, Bosnia-born Petkovic said she feels in very good shape "and I do not know how many years more I will add in my career." Recently a top German sport medicine, Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt, the former club doctor of FC Bayern Munich examined Petkovic "and he told me that from a medical point of view I could play for another 10 years. But I cannot say if I will add another decade in professional tennis."

Julia Goerges, ranked 53, won 6-0, 6-1 against Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova who is ranked 17. Goerges scored six aces during the match. Asked if the tournament lost quality because the world's top two Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber cancelled their participation due to illness and injury, respectively, Goerges admitted that it is a pity for the Dubai Tennis Open as big names are missing, but she added "there always top players remaining and I do not feel that the challenge will be easier just because Williams and Kerber dropped out."

French elite player Kristina Mladenovic, ranked 30, who moved to Dubai this winter to become a permanent resident, defeated Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 7-6.

"It was not an easy match, there is no such thing like an easy match in the Dubai Open," she said. However, she added that she feels a bit of an advantage of living in the Gulf Arabian sheikhdom and playing the tournament, "as the conditions are very good here and my whole family lives now in Dubai."

The last first round match of the day was won by the world's number 39, American CoCo Vandeweghe who scored a 7-6, 6-1 victory against left-handed Czech player Krisitina Pliskova.

The final for the ladies' Dubai Tennis Open which distributes total prize money of 2 million dollar will take place on February 20. Endit