Defending champion Jelena Jankovic of Serbia has advanced to the second round of the ongoing 2016 Guangzhou International Women's Open after defeating Xiaodi You of China in two-straight-sets 6-2, 6-1 in the opening round of the WTA international tier on Tuesday at the Guangdong Olympic Tennis Center.

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Jankovic is gunning to become the first player in the history of the tournament to claim the title on two successive occasions. The opening round match was the fourth time that Jelena was participating in the tennis competition.

The Serbian tennis star is currently ranked No. 37, and she has a total of 1435 WTA points. According to Tanjug, Jankovic is set to face the 21-year-old Rebecca Peterson of Sweden.

Meanwhile, in the other matches of the day, Chinese tennis ace Zheng Saisai surrendered to her compatriot Peng Shuai, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6. Zheng, 22, got off a good start but failed to capitalize on her early advantage after the 30-year-old Peng made a strong rally in the second and third games to steal the victory.

Peng will be playing Germany's Sabine Lisicki in the second round on Wednesday.

Alison Riske of the United States, Annett Kontaveit of Estonia, Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, and Ana Konjuh of Croatia also advanced to the next round of the competition after defeating their respective opponents.

The prestigious Guangzhou Open is one of the oldest international professional women's tennis competitions in China. The event was established in the year 2004 as a WTA International tournament.

The tournament boasts of a USD $225,000.00 prize money and secures the winner 280 po]ints in the world rankings.

Tagsguangzhou open, Jelena Jankovic, wta, wta rankings, Peng Shuai