The first day of the second round of the Australian Open women's singles saw a mix of joy and disappointment, with many seeded players such as Sabalenka, Pegula, and Mira Andreeva advancing to the next round. However, the No. 5 seed Zheng Qinwen and the No. 25 seed Samsonova were upset, with Zheng becoming the first top-eight seed to be eliminated from this year's Australian Open.
As last year's runner-up and the No. 5 seed, Zheng faced world No. 97 Siegemund and was expected to win easily. However, Zheng encountered issues with her serve, rallies, mentality, and focus.
In the first set, Zheng lost the tiebreak, which was unfortunate. In the past, she had been able to quickly adjust her state after losing the first set, but this time she failed to do so. Her mentality began to crumble after being penalized by the umpire, allowing Siegemund to hold serve continuously and ultimately win 2-0 in a shocking upset, marking the first time in her career that she defeated a top-10 player at a Grand Slam event.
After the match, Zheng admitted that her lack of focus and a minor issue with her elbow following last year's finals led her to skip warm-up matches and directly participate in the Australian Open. In fact, her poor mental and physical state were also reasons for her loss and elimination.
Zheng's elimination is the biggest upset since the start of this year's Australian Open, causing her immediate ranking to drop to No. 7.
Compared to Zheng's failure to turn things around after trailing 1-4 in the second set, both Sabalenka and Mira Andreeva managed miraculous comebacks. Sabalenka, in particular, won five consecutive games to turn the tables when trailing 2-5 against Bosas in the second set, eliminating Bosas 2-0 and extending her incredible record of 16 consecutive wins at the Australian Open.
Additionally, the No. 14 seed Mira Andreeva was pushed to a decisive set by Japanese player Naito Moe. Despite facing a 3-5 deficit and a 6-8 disadvantage in the tiebreak, she managed to win 10-8, securing a 2-1 victory and advancing to the Australian Open's top 32 for the second consecutive year.
Here are the results of the morning matches:
Sabalenka 2-0 Bosas
Pegula 2-0 Mertens
Zheng Qinwen 0-2 Siegemund
Samsonova 0-2 Danilovic
Mira Andreeva 2-1 Naito Moe
Lamens 0-2 Bencic
Maria 0-2 Tauson
Fletcher 2-1 Blinkova
The following seeded players have been eliminated from the women's singles (7 in total):
[5] Zheng Qinwen, [16] Ostapenko, [21] Azarenka, [26] Alexandrova, [29] Noskova, [31] Sakkari, [25] Samsonova
The updated list of the women's singles top 32 (8 in total) includes:
Sabalenka, Pegula, Siegemund, Bencic, Tauson, Danilovic, Fletcher, Mira Andreeva