Zheng Qinwen has made a triumphant return to Melbourne Park.
The Chinese fifth seed, who reached the women’s singles final in Melbourne last year, secured the first win at Rod Laver Arena of Australian Open 2025 by battling past Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni 7-6(3) 6-1 on Sunday.
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The 22-year-old needed almost two hours to secure victory against Todoni in the pair’s first meeting. “The first match is always not easy,” she said on court afterwards.
Under a closed roof, Zheng broke her unheralded opponent in the seventh game, punctuating well-struck winners with roars of “Come on!”
But Todoni, the world No.110, dug in to save three set points and recaptured the break to level the match at 5-5.
Competing with the tenacity of a player eager to make the most of her AO debut, the talented 20-year-old matched Zheng’s powerful groundstrokes to fend off a trio of set points. But the fifth seed found her rhythm in the tiebreak and was rarely troubled in the second set, during which Todoni took a medical timeout for what appeared to be a back issue.
During the match, Zheng won 83 per cent of first serves, helped by eight aces, which contributed to a winner count of 29, nine more than her opponent.
“I feel very excited to be back,” Zheng told reporters before the tournament, adding that she loves competing in Australia.
Zheng said she’s working well with new coach Dante Bottini, who has tutored Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov and Nicolas Jarry. The Argentinian has brought a new perspective to her game and contributed to her prolonged pre-season, which was made feasible by skipping lead-up tournaments.
“I am just constantly improving my game, adding more things, trying to approach new area[s],” said the 22-year-old, noting that she strives to improve even in practice, fitness and recovery sessions, and in match play. “I always come on the court with [thinking] ‘Okay, we are not good enough’, I need to have this mentality to be [a] better player,” she explained.
“I'm right now top five, but still far away from my goal,” she said, adding that she is focused on the present and has buried any regrets from the AO2024 final.
“If I just focus on the moment, I will be [a] better person and a better player.” That mantra, which she employs on court, helps her to avoid ruminating over missed opportunities mid-match.
Zheng was thrust further into the spotlight with a gold medal from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and says the increased attention isn’t a burden.
“I think I deal good with the pressure and I like to play with the pressure, like what Billie Jean King says ‘Pressure is a privilege’ and I love this sentence,” she said.
“If you don't believe, you are not going to make it,” she added. “I allow myself to be [confident], but still with control…not too much, not too low.”
In the second round, Zheng will carry that belief on court when she takes on the winner of Monday’s clash between Laura Siegemund and Hailey Baptiste.