MELBOURNE, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's veteran Zhang Shuai continued her career resurgence by winning her first round match at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
Zhang beat American player Mccartney Kessler 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 16 minutes at Melbourne Park to progress to the second round in the singles draw at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the 2023 Australian Open.
The Chinese veteran, currently ranked 204th in the world, exhibited great control over her groundstrokes throughout the match, hitting 26 winners and only 11 unforced errors.
By comparison, Kessler, ranked 47th in the world, hit 18 winners and 22 unforced errors.
Zhang won 77 percent of her first serve points and 65 percent of those on her second serve compared to 57 and 43 percent respectively for Kessler.
It improves Zhang's career head-to-head record over the 25-year-old to 2-0. In their previous match at September's 2024 China Open in Beijing, Zhang ended a 24-match, 18-month singles losing streak before going on to reach the quarterfinals.
The Chinese player asserted herself in the opening game of the match when she broke Kessler's serve with a backhand winner. Kessler broke back to level the score at 3-3 but Zhang won three straight games from there to claim the opening set.
The first nine games of the second set went to serve. Serving to stay in the match trailing 5-4, Kessler hit two double faults to open the door for Zhang who took the opportunity on her first match point and the only break point chance for either player in the set.
Zhang and Kessler will meet again in the first round of the women's doubles, where Zhang and France's Kristina Mladenovic are the ninth seed. ■