It could have been the last big tournament Shuai Zhang was going to play in her tennis career. The Chinese had asked her parents to join her in Melbourne for the Australian Open, possibly the last major she was ever going to participate in, after falling in the first round of Slam tournaments 14 times. With a place in the ranking which was getting further away from the top 100 and dark perspectives for the near future, Shuai Zhang thought facing Simona Halep in the first round of the Australian Open was going to lead yet to another first round defeat. It didn’t happen and the story didn’t repeat. Beating the second seed in the first round, the Chinese 26-year-old shocked first of all herself. She is now in the second round, with a check for more than 50.000$, which means having the funds to keep being a tennis player a little longer than expected.
Following Zhang in the second round were 3 other Chinese players, making it a historical poker of Chinese contestants to make it to the last 64. First to reach the feat was another qualifier Wang Qiang, who just like Zhang took out a seeded player, ousting Sloane Stephens in the first round. The day had then finished with Wild Card winner Xin-Yun Han over injured Duque Marino. Finally, the poker was completed by Saisai Zheng, the only one automatically admitted to the main draw, who dominated in straight sets German Witthoft.
It seems there is still hope for Chinese tennis, even after Li Na’s retirement.
