Zheng Qinwen feels wronged to the point of tears! Penalized twice for serving over time + even changing shoes is monitored, targeted by the umpire
Beijing time on January 15th, 2025 Australian Open entered the fourth day of competition, a women's singles second-round match, Chinese star and No. 5 seed Zheng Qinwen against German doubles expert Siegemund. In the first set, Zheng Qinwen was in a tough battle, lasting as long as 1 hour and 20 minutes. Although she broke Siegemund's serve-to-win game, she lost four points after 3-3 in the tiebreak, losing the tiebreak with a small score of 3-7 and the set 6-7 first. In the second set, Zheng Qinwen was broken again, although she managed to break back with difficulty, but in the next fourth game, Zheng Qinwen was penalized for serving over time for the second time in the match, which affected her mentality and she was broken again! Eventually, Zheng Qinwen lost two sets in a row with 6-7 and 3-6, and was surprisingly eliminated in the second round of the Australian Open women's singles with a big score of 0-2!
Zheng Qinwen was the runner-up of last year's Australian Open, ranked No. 5 in the latest WTA rankings, and was listed as the No. 5 seed in this year's Australian Open, placed in the 1/4 area. The top eight seeds in the same area are defending champion and world No. 1 Sabalenka. In addition, in the upper half of the women's singles draw, there is also world No. 3 Gauff, who just led the American team to win the United Cup championship. From the analysis of the draw, Zheng Qinwen's luck was not good, and she was placed in the "death half"! Previously, Zheng Qinwen eliminated Romanian qualifier Todoni in the first round of the women's singles with 7-6(3), 6-1. Among them, in the first set, Zheng Qinwen faced strong challenges, fought for 1 hour and 15 minutes in a single set, saved three set points, and finally narrowly won with a tiebreak.
German veteran Siegemund, although her singles record is average, her doubles record is very outstanding, winning many Grand Slam doubles championships! Previously, in the recently held United Cup tennis team event, Siegemund represented the defending champion German team and had a match with the Chinese team. Siegemund lost 1-2 to China's dark horse Gao Xin Yu in the women's singles match. Turning to the Australian Open, Siegemund fought for 3 hours and 16 minutes in the first round of the women's singles, and after losing the first set, she won two sets in a row, defeating American player Baptiste with a big score of 2-1.
In the first set of the match, Zheng Qinwen did quite well in her own serve, with the number of ACEs constantly increasing. However, Siegemund, who is a doubles expert, is equally excellent in the receiving serve link. As long as Zheng Qinwen does not directly kill with an ACE serve, Siegemund can return with a highly pressurized receive, or even a Return ACE direct receive score! In the first eight games, both Zheng Qinwen and Siegemund had break points, but neither completed a break, with the score tied at 4-4.
In the ninth game, after several deuces, Zheng Qinwen's serve was broken first, and Siegemund completed a key break at the end of the set, leading 5-4 and welcoming her own serve-to-win game. However, in the next tenth game, Zheng Qinwen immediately broke back, breaking Siegemund's serve-to-win game, chasing the first set to 5-5, and the suspense continued! Next, after each completed a game hold, the first set entered the cruel tiebreak. In the tiebreak battle, Zheng Qinwen suddenly lost power after 3-3, losing four points in a row to lose the tiebreak with a small score of 3-7. Zheng Qinwen fought hard for 1 hour and 20 minutes to lose the first set with a score of 6-7.
Before the start of the second set, Zheng Qinwen also returned to the locker room, changed into a new jersey, and calmed down her emotions.
Returning to the court, Zheng Qinwen began the second set battle with Siegemund. Siegemund completed the first game hold first, followed by the momentum of Siegemund, who broke Zheng Qinwen in the second game! Judging from the momentum of both sides, it seemed that Zheng Qinwen was about to collapse.
However, Zheng Qinwen is still relatively tenacious. After being broken, she immediately launched a counterattack in the third game and successfully broke back! However, this match was destined to be so unlucky for Zheng Qinwen. In the next fourth game, Zheng Qinwen was penalized for serving over time in her own serve, which was the second time she was penalized for serving over time in the whole match. After failing to communicate with the main umpire, Zheng Qinwen's expression was almost crying with grievances!
Undoubtedly, the umpire's penalty had a greater impact on Zheng Qinwen's mentality, and she was broken again by Siegemund in the fourth game! In the following game, Zheng Qinwen tried to use changing shoes to give herself a positive psychological hint, but when changing shoes, she was also watched by the sharp eyes of the main umpire, for fear that Zheng Qinwen would delay even a second! Under the targeting of the main umpire, Zheng Qinwen could not get any breathing space, and eventually lost another set with a score of 3-6, losing to Siegemund with a big score of 0-2, becoming the first of the top eight seeds to be eliminated from this year's Australian Open women's singles!