Sawt Falasteen - Olympic champion Zheng survives scare to reach Australian Open second round

As thunder reverberated around Rod Laver Arena, causing play to be suspended on outside courts, Olympic champion Zheng dug deep under the roof to overcome the world number 110 in almost two hours of play.

It had looked like a straightforward assignment when the heavy-hitting Chinese -- who lost the Melbourne final 12 months ago to Aryna Sabalenka -- broke the 20-year-old Romanian to lead 5-3.

But Todoni, who has never beaten a top-10 player and was making her Australian Open debut, refused to lie down and broke back to level at 5-5.

At 5-6, the heavy-hitting Zheng saved three Todoni set points to force a tiebreak which she wrapped up to seal a marathon first set after 75 minutes.

Zheng, who did not play a warm-up event before coming to Melbourne Park, appeared rusty, with lacklustre footwork causing her to miss the lines on several chances to pass the gritty Todoni.

But she stepped up a gear in the second set, racing to a 3-0 lead before wrapping up the match with an ace in 1hr 56min.

"I am just happy to win the match," said Zheng, who enjoyed vociferous support from a large Chinese contingent in the crowd.

"I was happy to win the tiebreak and start to find my rhythm. It's not always easy but I want to say thanks for all the crowd coming to support me."

The 22-year-old Zheng enjoyed a breakthrough 2024, beating then number one Iga Swiatek on her way to winning Olympic gold in Paris and claiming three WTA titles.

"Queen Wen" ended the year at a career-high world number five after claiming the Pan Pacific Open title in Tokyo.

She then reached the championship match at the WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, where she was edged only in a final-set tiebreak by Coco Gauff.

Zheng will play either Laura Siegemund of Germany or American Hailey Baptiste in round two on Wednesday.

L.AbuAli--SF-PST