Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai sparked off the biggest offense in the opening round of the ongoing 2016 China Open after upsetting seven-time grand slam winner Venus Williams of the United States on Monday at the Diamond Court in Beijing.

The 30-year-old Peng, who entered the event as a wildcard, scored a stunning 7-5, 6-1 victory against Williams, the tournament's sixth-seeded player. Peng currently ranks No. 223 in the latest WTA women's single world rankings, while Williams is among the top 20, specifically, the 13^th-best ranked player in the world.

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"Venus is a great player, needless to say," Peng, who needed just one hour and 26 minutes to send the former world No.1 packing, said following the match. "So I felt pressure when I played with her." 

"Sometimes, I could not play the ball I wanted and sometimes I played very well," the Chinese winner added. "But today, I believe, on the whole, my performance is quite consistent." 

According to Shanghai Daily, the native of Xiangtan, Hunan reached her career high of No. 17 in 2011. However, issues of injuries forced Peng to miss much of the competitions in 2015 and even almost sent her to an early retirement from the sport.

Peng will be facing world No. 25 Caroline Garcia of France in the second round of the Beijing-based tennis tournament. The 22-year-old French tennis player defeated Julia Goerges of Germany with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory in their first round showdown on yesterday.

Meanwhile, reigning WTA's world No. 1 Angelique Kerber of Germany continued her remarkable season following her win against the 20-year-old qualifier Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in two straight sets also on Monday.

The newly-crowned US Open champion outclassed Siniakova with a 6-4, 6-4 victory to advance to the next level of the competition. Kerber will be playing another Czech tennis player Barbara Strycova in the second round, basing from the tournament's official website.

TagsPeng Shuai, 2016 china open, Venus Williams, wta rankings, Angelique Kerber, us open