China's Wang reaches second round at Wimbledon, Zheng ousted by Siniakova

LONDON -- China's Wang Xinyu reached the second round at Wimbledon for the first time as the world No. 73 defeated Australian qualifier Storm Hunter in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 on Monday.

The other three Chinese players Zheng Qinwen, Yuan Yue and Zhu Lin, however, all saw their Wimbledon campaigns end in the first round.

Wang had suffered a first-round exit in 2021 and had to withdraw from the tournament before the main draw due to injury last year. The 21-year-old Chinese fired 31 winners, against just 12 from her opponent, to coast to victory in one hour and five minutes.

"My family has come to London to watch me this time. I'm so happy that we rented an apartment and my parents could cook for me," Wang said after the match.

Before coming to the All England Club, Wang had pulled out of the Berlin Open when facing Jaimee Fourlis in the first round because of an arm injury. In order to recover more quickly, the newly-crowned French Open doubles champion also opted to give up the doubles event here in London, just to focus on the singles.

"My body was not 100 percent perfect during preparation. I had injury to my arm, so I just wanted to try to keep healthy, and not let the injury get worse. As for the result, I didn't expect too much but I am very happy that I could win today," Wang said.

Shenzhen-born Wang, a former semifinalist in the junior singles at Wimbledon, had set her best result at a Grand Slam tournament last month in Paris, where she advanced to the round of 32 before losing to top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland.

"I feel I have improved in recent years, like how to read the game on court and find my opponents' weaknesses. I'm getting better and better," Wang added.

Wang will now face former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the second round, after the 24-year-old prevailed in an all-American clash during which she shocked current world No. 7 Coco Gauff 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

The highest-ranked Chinese singles player Zheng, who reached the third round on her Wimbledon debut last year, suffered an early knockout this time after losing to Czech player Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 7-5.

The 20-year-old committed 22 unforced errors in the match, while her opponent only made 14.

"I had chance in the match, but I didn't do well when facing some key points, especially in my serving," Zheng said.

Siniakova had won her first singles grass-court title in Bad Homburg before coming to Wimbledon, and the seven-time doubles Grand Slam winner will play Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko in the next round.

Earlier, Zhu was beaten by world No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-3, while Yuan was dispatched by former world No.1 and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

Fellow Chinese player Zhang Shuai's match against Croatia's Donna Vekic was postponed to Tuesday due to rain.