Reigning WTA world No. 1 Angelique Kerber of Germany prevailed over the gutsy Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic to claim her spot in the third round of the ongoing 2016 China Open tennis tournament on Wednesday at the Diamond Court of the National Tennis Center in Beijing.

The 28-year-old German tennis superstar showed off her dominance over the Czech player with a hard-fought straight-set 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) triumph. It was Kerber's sixth victory against Strycova in their seven official meetings, while the 30-year-old native of Plzen only won over the German tennis ace on the 2016 Mutua Madrid Open in Spain last May.

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"I know how (Strycova) plays because we've played a lot of matches, so I was prepared for the match," Kerber said after the match. "I was just trying to be more aggressive, so that was my plan, to just go for it...making her run and being ready for all the drop shots from her."

According to Xinhua, the victory sets up Kerber, who has won two major titles this season, towards conquering the Australian Open and US Open this year, a third round matchup against the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina for a quarterfinals berth. The 19^th-ranked Svitolina defeated the 27-year-old wildcard Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-4, 6-4 last Tuesday.

"Svitolina is a tough opponent, as well... but I'm looking forward," Kerber said. "It will be maybe a little bit the same like today. I will try to be more aggressive like I did today and just try to (play) my own game."

The event's top seeded player had the upper hand against the 22-year-old Ukrainian tennis ace in their head-to-head matchup. Kerber presently has a 5-2-career record against Svitolina, according to the official website of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Chinese tennis ace Peng Shuai fell short in advancing to the third round of the tennis competition after losing to Caroline Garcia of France with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (7-4) defeat in their second round match.

TagsChina Open, Angelique Kerber, barbora strycova, Elina Svitolina, Peng Shuai, wta rankings