Tennis: Monica Niculescu, defeated in inaugural round of WTA Shenzhen tournament

Romanian tennis player Monica Niculescu was defeated by 6-1, 7-5 by Slovenian player Polona Hercog, on Monday, in the inaugural round of the 500,000 WTA Shenzhen tournament.

Niculescu (27 years old, #47 WTA) admitted her defeat after one hour and 29 minutes. Monica, who led 5-4 in the second set, had defeated Hercog (23 years old, #94 WTA) last year, in the quarterfinals of the WTA Bucharest tournament, with 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (3).

Monica will receive for her performance a check worth 3,199 dollars and will participate in the doubles tournament with Kazakhstani player Zarina Dias, where they are set to meet, in the first round, Ukrainian twins Liudmila and Nadia Kicenok.

Simona Halep, the main favorite of the tournament, will also meet, on Monday, Annika Beck (Germany), while Irina Begu (seeded sixth) will face Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic). On Sunday, Alexandra Dulgheru was defeated in the inaugural round by Chinese player Saisai Zheng, by 7-5, 5-7, 6-1. AGERPRES