Sydney, Jan. 6 -- Elena Rybakina ended China's Zhang Shuai's run at the Brisbane International on Tuesday night, beating the Chinese veteran 6-3, 7-5 to reach the third round.
Zhang, the world No. 79, was beaten by the 26-year-old third seed in one hour and 12 minutes on center court at the Australian Open warm-up event.
The 36-year-old, who had already played two three-set qualifying matches and a three-set first-round match in Brisbane, fell behind 5-1 in the opening set but won five of the next seven games to put Rybakina under pressure.
"It was a really tough match," said Rybakina, who had not played a competitive match since winning the title at the WTA Finals in November.
"It was not easy, especially in the second set, but I'm hap...