Few women can play a disruptor role better than the steely Laura Siegemund.
Throughout a career that spans well over a decade, the German has claimed wins over top-10 opponents including Maria Sakkari, Simona Halep and Venus Williams.
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And underlining the competitive spirit that remains stronger than ever as she approaches her 37th birthday, Siegemund toiled for more than three hours to claim a three-set win over Hailey Baptiste in the AO 2025 first round.
The world No.97 was therefore in the mood to stage an upset as she took on Zheng Qinwen, an Olympic gold medallist in singles and the No.5 seed in Melbourne, in the tournament’s second round.
After two hours and 16 minutes on court at John Cain Arena, Siegemund had added another big win to her long tennis record, with a 7-6(3) 6-3 victory over the 2024 finalist.
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“I knew I just had to play more than my best tennis and I had nothing to lose, so I just told myself to swing free,” said Siegemund, having recorded her 11th win over a top-10 opponent and her first at a Grand Slam.
“She’s an amazing player. She’s 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.
“And, you know, some days you just go outside and you have the ball on the racquet.”
As she confidently executed her game plan, Siegemund – a top-20 doubles player with 15 titles in that discipline – also revealed herself as a master tactician.
Reading the Chinese star’s typically deadly serve beautifully and largely exposing Zheng’s net game, the German drew on her vast experience as she completed the monumental win.
Asserting authority from the outset, Siegemund held a break point in the third service game - and while Zheng held on at that point, the German dominated the eventual first-set tiebreak. As the clock ticked over one hour and 20 minutes, she maintained aggression to gain the decisive first-set lead.
“She’s obviously a much better server than me so I needed to make the points once the ball was in the rally and I tried to be extremely aggressive,” Siegemund noted. “I tried not to do too many fancy things but really stick with my clear plan and I think I did a great job with that.”
Indeed, as Siegemund grew in confidence, Zheng appeared increasingly rattled. An off-court break between sets spanned more than six minutes and following the first game of the second set, the 22-year-old returned to her chair and made an extended task of changing her shoes.
The biggest turning point came as Zheng received a second time violation as she served at 15-30 in the fourth game of the second set. Penalised a serve, the fifth seed double-faulted. And while she followed with an ace, another double fault gave Siegemund the decisive service break.
With a chance to contest a third-round in Melbourne for the third time in eight appearances, Siegemund seized the momentum and finally, the match.
“I tried not to do too many fancy things but really stick with my clear plan,” she said. “And I think I did a great job with that.”