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Zhang only Chinese player left in Australian Open main draw, after Zheng loses

Xinhua, January 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Zheng Saisai has lost her second round match at the Australian Open, leaving Zhang Shuai as the last Chinese player left in the main draw of the tournament.

Zheng was overpowered by big-hitting Englishwoman Johanna Konta, crashing out 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 22 minutes.

Konta, 24, lashed 26 winners past the 83rd-ranked Chinese player, who couldn't break through for her first second-round win at a Grand Slam.

Konta, who was born in Australia but migrated to the United Kingdom in 2005, showed glimpses of the form that saw her dethrone nine-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in the first round on Tuesday.

Zheng wasn't without her chances, but failed to convert three break-point chances in the first set.

After falling 5-1 behind in the second, the 21-year-old from Shaanxi tried to claw her way back into the match, breaking as Konta served for the match, but it was too little too late.

The loss means Zhang Shuai, who shocked the world by defeating 2nd-seed Simona Halep in the first round, as the only Chinese player left alive in both the men's and women's singles draw at Melbourne Park.

Zhang will play unseeded Frenchwoman Alize Cornet later this afternoon. Endit