Chinese top player and Women's Tennis Association's current no. 72 Zheng Saisai got the better of world no.49 Varvara Lepchenko of the United States in two straight sets 7-5, 6-1 at the 2016 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship staged at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre on Monday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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The victory was Zheng's third in a row, which enabled her to enter the last 28 stage of the tournament.

The first set of the match lasted for one hour and 28 minutes. The Chinese tennis star struggled with "finding her rhythm" against the 29-year-old left-handed Lepchenko's "strong forehand which she extensively used", Xinhua reported.

However, Zheng rarely got "upset about herself and often rose her self-motivating fist and shouted at herself 'c'mon!' for winning tricky ball", the report carried on.

During the match, the 22-year-old native of Shaanxi enjoyed the support of her Chinese fans znd Dubai residents.

"She is really a good player and she fights a lot. So I was relieved to take the first set," Zheng said after the tennis match.

The Chinese tennis player explained her strategy of the long and high shots she played during the match.

"Since Lepchenko is strong in the baseline play in particular, I tried to push her back, and when I saw my chance I switched to play at the net," Zheng said.

Zheng started tennis at the early age of eight. She plays right handed (double hand backhand) and loves to play on a hard surface.

Her current coach is Alan Ma. She reached her career high singles ranking as world No. 61 on May 11, 2015 and world No. 22 in the doubles ranking on February 1, 2016.

TagsZheng Saisai, wta, dubai duty free tennis championships