Fifth-ranked Chinese star Zheng Qinwen was sent packing early at the Australian Open with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 second-round defeat to Germany's Laura Siegemund.
The 2024 Olympic champion progressed to last year's final in Melbourne - her best finish in a Grand Slam tournament - before losing to two-time winner Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-2.
Zheng was also eliminated in the second round of the Aussie Open in 2022 and 2023. The 22-year-old did not play at the Brisbane Open, a warmup tournament, like many of her peers did.
Laura Siegemund, what have you done 😍👏
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2025
The world no. 97 has caused an upset at the John Cain Arena defeating last year's finalist and fifth seed Qinwen in straight sets 7-6 (3) 6-3 🤯@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/Txmr4dylyj
After the first set was determined by a tiebreaker, Zheng battled back from an early break in the second set to halve Siegemund's advantage at 2-1. The German veteran then broke her opponent once again after Zheng received a code violation for taking too long with her first serve.
That appeared to rattle Zheng, who framed the ensuing serve for a double fault and a second break point conceded in the set, gifting Siegemund the advantage again.
The victory was Siegemund's first against a top-10-ranked player in a major tournament after suffering defeat in her first seven attempts. The 36-year-old entered the tournament ranked 97th in the world.
