Veteran Zhang suffers early exit at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai lost in three sets to wildcard Taylah Preston in the women's singles first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.

Preston hit 26 winners in a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory in one hour and 33 minutes at Kia Arena.

"I'm just really happy. I put in a lot of hard work, it's really nice," said 20-year-old Preston, who avenged an earlier defeat to Zhang in Brisbane this month.

Preston, seeking her first main-draw win at a Grand Slam, started aggressively and struck 12 winners to take the opening set.

The 36-year-old Zhang responded by pressuring Preston's serve to level the match.

Preston, ranked 161st in the world, regrouped to break in the opening game of the third set and went on to close out the win. She will next play Czech 13th seed Linda Noskova. ■