By Shrivathsa Sridhar
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Last year’s runner-up Zheng Qinwen was sent crashing out of the Australian Open second round after a shock 7-6(3) 6-3 defeat by unseeded German Laura Siegemund on Wednesday.
Olympic champion Zheng looked out of sorts in the day’s opening match on John Cain Arena, as Siegemund came out swinging and clinched a tight opening set in the tiebreak.
An early break in the next handed the German the advantage and although Chinese fifth seed Zheng battled back with one of her own, she quickly found herself 3-1 down.
World number 97 Siegemund delivered the final blow on serve to extinguish Zheng’s bid to emulate compatriot Li Na’s 2014 triumph at the year’s first Grand Slam.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
