Peng moves to New Zealand second round

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Peng Shuai was pushed to three sets before she claimed a first-round win Tuesday at the ASB Classic tennis tournament in New Zealand.

Peng was on the court nearly two hours in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Aravane Rezai. Peng lost her service twice in the first set but capped the win by taking nearly three-quarters of the points on serve in the third set.

Nearly half the matches on Tuesday's nine-match schedule went to three sets, including fifth-seeded Julia Goerges' 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 victory over defending champion Greta Arn. Goerges was forced into 18 break-point situations -- saving 14 -- but only two came in the final set.

No. 3-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova had an easier time in a 6-3, 6-2 win over Alison Riske while Roberta Vinci, the sixth seed, topped Rebecca Marino 7-5, 6-4. Seventh-seeded Yanina Wickmayer defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-4 and No. 8-seeded Monica Niculescu eliminated Jamie Hampton 7-6 (7-1), 6-1.

Unseeded winners Tuesday were Angelique Kerber, Elena Vesnina and Zheng Jie.