Qinwen Zheng fought through a slow start to beat Romanian debutant Anca Todoni 7-6(3), 6-1 in the first round of the Australian Open on Sunday, MySportDab Reports.
The fifth seed took almost two hours and a tiebreak to despatch the world number 110 under Rod Laver Arena’s closed roof.
Zheng, 22, said the pressure of opening on such an iconic court weighed heavily on her mind, a year after she was a runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in the 2024 final. “I was very nervy, from even yesterday. I love playing here and the Australian Open seems very special,” she said.
Even after breaking Todoni to go ahead 5-3 in the opening set, Zheng was unable to finish it. The 20-year-old Romanian showed resilience by breaking back and earning three set points at 5-6, but Zheng dug in to compel a tiebreak.
She regained her composure to take the opening set after 75 minutes.
“It’s always tough in the first set, especially because of the dumb mistakes I did,” Zheng said.
With her nerves calmed, Zheng found her rhythm in the second set, jumping out to a 3-0 lead and serving out the match with an ace. She thanked the enthusiastic crowd in China for their support, adding: “It feels like a home and I got a lot of energy from them.”
Zheng enjoyed a remarkable season in 2024 — capturing Olympic gold in Paris and finishing the year ranked world number five.
She won three WTA titles, including the Pan Pacific Open, and made it to the WTA Finals championship match, where she came up just short against Coco Gauff.
Zheng will play either Germany’s Laura Siegemund or American Hailey Baptiste in the second round Wednesday in her bid for her first Grand Slam title.
