Peng Shuai

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai said she never accused anyone of sexual assault, according to an interview published Monday, again walking back an allegation that sparked worldwide concern about her safety.

The former doubles world number one alleged in a social media post in November that former Chinese vice-premier Zhang Gaoli forced her into sex during a years-long relationship.

GUANGZHOU - Serbia's Jelena Jankovic is through to the quarter-finals of the Guangzhou tennis tournament after Sweden's Rebecca Peterson retired from their Round 2 match on Wednesday.

Second-seeded Jankovic, who was leading 6-1, 1-0, will next play Sabine Lisicki of Germany, who beat Shuai Peng of China 6-4, 6-1.

The prize money in Guangzhou is 250,000 dollars.

Bulgaria's top female tennis player Tsvetana Pironkova won in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship on Sunday.

Pironkova defeated the Czech Klara Koukalova with 6:3, 4:6, 6:3 in a game that lasted just over two hours, daily Dnevnik reports.

The Bulgarian recorded a fifth victory in seven encounters with her Czech opponent

ROME - Serbian female tennis player Bojana Jovanovski was ousted at the onset of the WTA Premier in Rome as she lost the Monday match to Sloane Stephens of the U.S., 2-1 (3-6, 6-3, 6-3).

In the second round of the tournament, Stephens will cross rackets with her compatriot Varvara Lepchenko who beat China's Peng Shuai with the convincing score of 6-1, 6-0.