Fifth-seed and 2024 Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng admits the Australian Open "feels home" in the hope of using the Chinese support to her advantage.
Zheng started her Melbourne Park campaign with a 7-6(3) 6-1 victory against Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni under the roof at Rod Laver Arena.
Last year's Paris Olympics singles gold medalist looks to carry the momentum from a break-out 2024 season into the year's first Grand Slam.
Both players opened the match by serving well until 3-3 when Zheng managed to take a
crucial break and move to a 4-3 lead. She consolidated the break and moved the score to 5-3.
However, Todoni held her own and crawled back to level the match at 5-5. After holding
serve in breathtaking fashion to take a 6-5 lead, she had multiple set points on the Zheng
serve before Zheng managed to fend them all off to take the set in a tie-break.
The Chinese star carried that positive momentum into the second set, hitting a sublime inside-out forehand drop-shop to cement a 3-0 lead and eventually consolidate the victory.
Zheng thanked the crowd for their support in pushing her across the finish line to book her place in the second-round.
"I think I feel like I'm always [playing] like [I'm] in China," Zheng stated. "Feels home, because [a] lot of crowd supporting me.
"I feel like I can get a lot of energy from them, especially when she gets the set point, and also
we have a tough first-set fight."
Melbourne and the state of Victoria have a historically rich Chinese presence and culture
enticing many Chinese Australian fans to arrive in numbers and support Zheng and the Chinese contingent.
Many fans have also made the long trip from China and around the world to support Zheng in her quest to go one step further than last year and lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.
"I just love to play in front of [the] Australian Open crowd," Zheng said, expressing her
gratitude for the encouragement and positive energy from the crowd.
The 22-year-old will face either Hailey Baptiste or Laura Siegemund in the round of 64.
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