China's highest-ranked female tennis player Zhang Shuai moves to the third round of the ongoing WTA China Open 2016 tennis tournament after winning over Alison Riske of the United States in their second round match on Monday in Beijing, China.

According to Xinhua, Zhang, who currently ranks No. 36 in the latest world rankings, defeated the 26-year-old American tennis ace via a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) victory at the Diamond Court of the National Tennis Center. The match lasted for over two and a half hours.

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"My opponent was quite strong in keeping the ball close to the line," the 27-year-old Chinese tennis star said after the match. "She's really good. I felt kind of at a loss. I didn't know what to do. I just held on, tried to improve." 

"We've been playing for such a long time," Zhang added. "I don't feel as strong as I was in the first set." 

Riske beat Zhang four years ago at the Aegon Classic Birmingham in Great Britain and in the Open de Limoges in France, while Zhang won over the American in the 2011 Miami Open.  

With her Monday's victory, the 2016 Australian Open quarterfinalist scored her second triumph against Riske in their four official meetings, making it a 2-2 head-to-head record against each other.

Zhang will be playing the tournament's fourth seeded player Simona Halep of Romania in the third round to earn a ticket in the quarterfinal round. The current world No. 5 Romanian defeated Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium with a 6-2, 6-2 victory despite having match disruptions due to heavy rains.

The forthcoming third match will be the two professional players' third matchup and will mark a rematch since Zhang sensationally scored an upset win against Halep in the 2016 Australian Open last January.

Halep and Zhang have a tied 1-1 head-to-head matchup record, according to the official website of the WTA.

TagsZhang Shuai, Simona Halep, Alison Riske, wta rankings, 2016 china open, wta