SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- World number 3 Agnieszka Radwanska went through an unexpected tough battle in the first round at WTA Shenzhen Open as she survived 3 match points to edge home wild card Duan Yinging 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-4.
The Polish fared well at the beginning of the match before facing a solid come-back from Duan in the second set. The home player showed her great power and move to level the match with a 7-4 win in the tie-break.
Duan could have sealed the victory in the 10th game of decider, but all her 3 match points were saved by the defending champion. After breaking again in the 12th game, the top seed finally claimed her first vitory in the new season.
"The first match in any tournament is always difficult. I'm very happy to win today, because it is a really tough game. Duan played really well. Although her rank is not very high, her power and serve are pretty good," Radwanska told the press conference.
"I'm satified with my performance today because I have given out what I got in the winter training. I'm not as good as top players when facing key points. I was thinking too much when the match points came out," said the 103rd ranked home player.
No.2 seed, Simona Halep of Romania came back in the decider after a hiccup in the second set, outlasting former world number one, Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to advance into the second round. It was also her seventh straight win over the 2008 US Open runner-up.
"I feel really good to win the game. It's a tough one and Jelena is a pretty good player, also former world number one. I know it won't be easy today. But I'm really happy to have this game at the beginning of the season, " said the 25-year-old.
Halep is going to play Katerina Siniakova of Czech Republic in the second round, who knocked out home star Peng Shuai in two straight sets 6-3, 7-5.
Beginning her first season as the top 10 player, 3rd-seeded Johanna Konta humiliated Turkish Cagla Buyukakcay 6-2, 6-0 within 56 minutes.
TOKYO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada on Wednesday said the nation's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) will begin training for new operations under recently changed security laws which have relaxed the forces' operational scope and use of weapons.
Since controversial security legislation was enacted in March this year, expanding the role of the SDF despite the inherent contradictions to Japan's own pacifist Constitution, the defense ministry has been updating its code of operational conduct for its forces, governing geographical location and use of lethal force.
The defense ministry indicated that its Ground Self-Defense Force troops will start to train for multiple potential maneuvers overseas. The training programs, which will also include joint exercises with the United States, will begin on Thursday, Inada said, referring specifically to a GSDF unit.
Inada, who has been in her post for less than a month, is known as a key ally of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and shares his hawkish views on security. She is also known for her contentious views of Japan's wartime past.
On Tuesday, she visited a U.S. naval base in the city of Yokosuka, in Kanagawa Prefecture, where she boarded the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, having earlier inspected the helicopter-carrier Izumo, the largest destroyer in the MSDF's fleet, yet widely believed to be an aircraft carrier.
Japan's security shift, in contravention of its own pacifist constitution, a key clause of which reads that "land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained," has put the island nation under the international spotlight as the changes to the law were made by way of an Abe-led unilateral cabinet decision and forced through parliament into law based on his party's ruling majority and against the public will.
Under the new legislation, Japan is now, in a limited manner, permitted to exercise the right to collective self-defense or can come to the aid of the United States and other friendly nations under armed attack, even if Japan itself is not attacked. However, the ambiguous wording of the law, has led to increased suspicion and vexation at Abe's loosely-veiled plans to remilitarize the country.
Constitutional scholars, lawyers and military analysts, have been quick to point out that Abe unilaterally bolstering the operation scope of the SDF has thwarted the legal constitutional amendment procedures necessary, and contravenes Japan's postwar pledge for its people to forever renounce war.
Three people go on trial in Luxembourg on Tuesday over the so-called LuxLeaks scandal that exposed the country's huge tax breaks for major international companies Men's Under Armour UA Stephen Curry 3 Mid Red For Sale , with the issue riding high after the recent Panama Papers revelations.
Two former employees at services firm PwC, Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet, and journalist Edouard Perrin face charges over the leaking of thousands of documents that exposed the scandal.
The LuxLeaks affair erupted in November 2014, exposing deals that saved firms including Apple (LSE: 0R2V.L - news) , IKEA and Pepsi billions of dollars in taxes while European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was Luxembourg's prime minister.
The deals emerged after a series of global news outlets examined 28,000 pages of documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), revealing the full scale of the tax breaks won by 340 companies.
Former auditor Deltour is accused of stealing documents from the database of the accounting firm before he left in 2010, revealing business secrets, violation of professional secrets and money laundering.