Peng outlasts Zheng in first round

World No 39 Peng Shuai beat Zheng Jie 6-3, 6-3 in a battle of Chinese 'Golden Flowers' to advance to the second round of the US Open on Monday.

The 28-year-old Peng opened the match with an easy love game to show her good form before she broke Zheng in the sixth.

The second set saw Peng keep applying pressure on Zheng, breaking her in the opening game and the fifth.

Peng nailed the victory in the ninth game when she forced a forehand mistake to break and win the match.

It was their sixth meeting in WTA tournaments. Peng has leveled the overall score at 3-3.

"You always feel nervous when you meet a person from the same country," said Peng after the match.

"We were teammates for so many years and we know each other very well," she said.

The 31-year-old Zheng hopes to represent China at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, next month.

Peng will face fourth seed Agnieszka Randwanska in the second round.

Dubbed a Chinese 'Golden Flower', together with two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na and Zheng, Peng has not won a singles title on the WTA tour.

However, the Hunan native enjoys a large fan base thanks to her outgoing personality

She posted a picture on microblog on Saturday of a king crab leg near her face.

"Yummy! I love the crab leg. The restaurant is so popular that I have to eat on take-out!" she wrote about the delicacy.

Her fans responded quickly and affectionately.

"With that crab leg, may you sweep the US Open," said a fan with the ID Shouting.

(China Daily 08/27/2014 page24)