MELBOURNE, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's Zheng Saisai was beaten at the Australian Open on Tuesday despite producing one of the shots of the tournament.
Zheng came back from a slow start but was knocked out of the Grand Slam by 20-year-old Russian Erika Andreeva 6-1, 7-6 (6) in just under two hours at Melbourne Park.
The Chinese veteran trailed 3-1 in the deciding set and looked headed for a straightforward defeat but fought all the way to the end, seeing off two match points in the tiebreak.
With scores tied at 2-2 in the tiebreak, Zheng produced a tournament highlight when she chased down a lob and hit a shot between her legs from well behind the baseline.
The sensational shot landed just inside the sideline and drew a forced error from Andreeva.
Earlier in the final set, Andreeva had a chance to serve for the match leading 6-5 but was denied by Zheng, who converted a break point opportunity with an aggressive approach to the net to force the tiebreak.
The Russian was again forced to wait for her victory when leading 6-4 in the tiebreak, she failed to convert either of her two match points.
Her third opportunity was not missed, however, and Andreeva closed out a thrilling second set in one hour and 23 minutes. ■