Peng Shuai loses to Tsvetana Pironkova in Dubai Open tennis

Dubai: Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai lost in a neck-and-neck match against Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in the second round of the women's annual Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships here.

Amid sunny weather with temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius in Dubai Tuesday, Peng, a semifinalist of last year's US Open, won the first set 6-3, but lost the following set with 4-6 while the third set ended in a breath taking tie-break which Peng lost 6-7, reports Xinhua.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships Women's Tennis Association (WTA) event continues until Feb 21. Then in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tournament Feb 23-28 stars World No.1 Novak Djokovic, defending Dubai champion Roger Federer and Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray.