MELBOURNE — Qinwen Zheng, the 2024 runner-up in Melbourne, was handed a shocking second-round 7-6 (3), 6-3 defeat by unseeded Laura Siegemund on Wednesday at the Australian Open.
The fifth-seeded Zheng, the reigning Olympic gold medalist, became the first top-10 seed to fall on the women’s side of the draw.
At 36, Siegemund is the third-oldest player to beat a WTA top-5 player at the Australian Open in the past 30 years. The only one older: Serena Williams, who did so at 39 years old in 2021 (defeated No. 2 Simona Halep) and as a 37-year-old in 2019 (defeated No. 1 Halep).
Since the start of 1990, there have only been four players age 36 or older to beat a WTA top-5 player at a major.
Zheng looked out of sorts in the day’s opening match on John Cain Arena, as Siegemund came out swinging and clinched a tight opening set in a tiebreak.
An early break in the next set handed Siegemund the advantage, and although Zheng battled back with a break of her own, she quickly found herself down 3-1.
Siegemund, ranked 97th, became the first unseeded German woman to defeat a top-five seed at the Australian Open since 2003, when Marlene Weingartner ousted Jennifer Capriati in the opening round.
ESPN Research and Reuters contributed to this report.
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