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By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, January 14, 2025

 
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World No. 97 Laura Siegemund, the second-oldest woman in the draw, shocked AO finalist Zheng Qinwen 7-6(3), 6-3 to reach the AO third round.

Photo credit: Daniel Pockett/Getty

Clever chaos agent Laura Siegmund repeatedly dragged Zheng Qinwen into the dead zone to score the biggest major win of her life.

A scrappy Siegmund shocked the 2024 AO finalist and Olympic gold-medal champion Zheng 7-6(3), 6-3 to surge into the Australian Open third round for the third time.

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The 36-year-old Siegemund, the second-oldest woman in the singles draw, is the first German woman to score a Top 5 win in Melbourne since seventh-seeded Angelique Kerber dethroned world No. 1 Serena Williams in the 2016 final.

Forcing Zheng into the frontcourt to chase a slice, Siegemund converted her second championship point to close a spirited triumph in two hours, 16 minutes.

"I think not much to say 'cause I try what I can do during this match," Zheng said afterward. "I feel maybe today is not my day. There's a lot of details in the important points. I didn't do the right choice. That's all I can say, yeah."

Tennis Express

On a day that saw her deliver “more than her best”, Siegemund celebrated covering her face with her hands and dropping to the blue court in pure jubilation.

When she arose, Siegemund engaged in an emotional embrace with her partner and coach Antonio Zucca wearing a wide smile.

“I knew I just had to play more than my best tennis. I had nothing to lose so I just told myself to swing free,” Siegemund said in her on-court interview. “She’s an amazing player—just one of the best players right now. But I know that I can play well and I just wanted to show that to myself and make it a tough fight.”

A lack of recent match play—Zheng was playing just her second match since bowing to Coco Gauff in the WTA Finals title match last November—a fragile forehand down the line and Siegemund’s stellar play and utterly unpredictable shot selection all conspired to cost the 2024 runner-up today.

World No. 97 Siegemund denied Zheng the rhythm she craves by suddenly blowing up points with her biting two-handed backhand down the line or flicking forehand drop shots into the short court.

Siegemund basically dared Zheng to show her she could repeatedly run down droppers and beat her with the forehand down the line—and the Olympic gold-medal champion could not quite get it down despite some big strikes of her own.

A former WTA Finals doubles champion, Siegemund knows her way around net—she won 13 of 16 net points today—knows Zheng’s net play is still a work in progress and exploited it. Siegemund will play either Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Anastasia Potapova for a spot in the round of 16.

A feisty Siegemund seemed to get on Zheng’s nerves with those drop shots, no-pace slices and her loud screams of “come on!” to punctuate winners.

Siegmund said afterward it’s nothing personal. The self-described “grinder and fighter” relies on emotional intensity as a weapon to batter the concentration of opponents.

“I’m really competitive just a grinder and a fighter which is maybe not always so popular for the opponent,” Siegemund said. “But that’s just me in myself to fight for every point and not give up.

“And I think I get rewarded many times for it.”

Battling through a physical 80-minute opener, Siegemund took more risk in the tiebreaker and was rewarded for it, reeling off the final four points to snatch a one-set lead.

“It was very important,” Siegemund said of the first-set breaker. “I think I was dominating baseline rallies. She’s obviously a much better server than me…

“I tried to be extremely aggressive, but not try to do too many fancy things. Then it was getting very physical and I was thinking about the offseason and I told myself now I have to run.”



Clutching a white towel and blue bag, Zheng strolled back on court after a bathroom break greeted by cloudy conditions.

Hit with a second time violation in the fourth game of the second set, Zheng lost a first serve then began to unravel emotionally a bit. She double-faulted twice, off-setting a pair of aces in that game, and dropped serve to fall behind 1-3.

"I was so surprised to get that second serve because never happen to me that before," Zheng said. "Because if the time [clock] was directly in my vision zone, like, straightaway I will see it, but...

"Yeah, obviously that one really distract me from the match. Yeah, also is first time I have this situation about time violation. I think this is my fourth year in the tour, and never happen that to me."

A fan screamed out “Let’s Go Laura! Let’s Go!”

Sprinting to her right, Siegemund made a stretch defensive get to prolong the point. Zheng again missed a wild forehand down the line as Siegemund held firm for a 4-1 second-set lead.

A lack of recent match play was apparent in Zheng as she brained cramped shuffling a poor drop shot attempt into net while moving backward. The forehand down the line failed the 2024 finalist again as a scrappy Siegemund used a mediocre drop shot to draw Zheng in before zapping a forehand pass crosscourt to hold for 5-2.

The fifth seed was serving to prolong the match when Siegmund pulled the fake SABR, moved back then banged a backhand return winner to open the eighth game.

Zheng played one of her most dynamic games sending the German scurrying all over the court then pumping an ace to hold for 3-5 and force Siegemund to serve it out.

Credit a bold Siegemund for opening with a gutsy forehand drop shot winner then went up 30-0 on an errant return.

Following a forehand down the line forward, Siegemund punched a forehand volley winner for triple match point for one of her biggest career upsets.

Zheng flashed a forehand return winner to erase the first match point.

On the second match point, Siegemund drew one last error and collapsed to the court in an eruption of joy.

On a day in which two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka fought through a tough second-round test, 2024 finalist Zheng fell at the second hurdle.

Ten minutes after the match, Siegemund and Zucca, an inseparable couple on Tour, were holding that celebratory embrace like they’d never let go.

“The best part about it is we are spending our life together on the tour,” Siegemund said. “We are sharing all those great and all those terrible memories together. How life is supposed to be.

“So that’s the best part about it—he’s always by my side, which I really appreciate.”

 

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