China's Zheng Qinwen into Australian Open round of 16 for first time

MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's Zheng Qinwen moved into the round of 16 of the Australian Open for the first time on Saturday after edging out compatriot Wang Yafan with a 6-4 2-6 7-6 (8) win.

12th-seeded Zheng faced a daring challenge from Wang, ranked No. 94, who forced Zheng to a decider after the two reached a tie in the first two sets.

Zheng led set three 4-2, but Wang fought back to tie things up at 6-6.

In the final moments of the match with a race to 10, Zheng earned two match points to lead 9-7. Wang saved the first match point but lost the second with a backhand forced error.

"[In] the third set, everybody is fighting, so just point by point," Zheng said after clinching victory in two hours and 40 minutes.

"We had a really difficult tiebreak. That was amazing to win the match like that," she said.

Zheng will play France's Oceane Dodin in the next round. ■