A stormy start to the 2025 Australian Open could not prevent last year’s runner-up Zheng Qinwen from booking her spot in this year’s second round, although her up-and-coming opponent certainly gave her quite a challenge.

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Under a closed roof on Rod Laver Arena, No.5 seed Zheng of China battled past powerful Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni 7-6(3), 6-1 in their opening-round clash on Sunday.

In her first match since a runner-up finish to Coco Gauff at last year’s WTA Finals Riyadh, 22-year-old Zheng needed 1 hour and 56 minutes to close out fast-rising 20-year-old Todoni, ranked No.110. Zheng was forced to save three set points in the first set before fighting to victory.

Reigning Olympic gold medalist Zheng now awaits either Germany’s Laura Siegemund or Hailey Baptiste of the United States in the second round.

Booming tennis: Thunder rattled through the arena as a storm moved through Melbourne right when Day 1 began. The weather was echoed by a thunderous first set, where Todoni successfully matched Zheng in power, sometimes hitting stronger groundstrokes than the World No.5.

Zheng produced typically high first-serve efficiency to lead 5-3 in the first set, but Todoni staved off a set point in that game to stay alive. Zheng then saw three more set points slip away on her serve, and Todoni’s heavy depth of shot let her break back for 5-5.

Suddenly, Todoni’s massive returns allowed the qualifier to garner three set points of her own at 6-5. Zheng, though, coolly deployed some of her best serves to erase those chances and reach the tiebreak. In the breaker, Zheng demonstrated her world-class form, clinching the first set after 75 tough minutes.

Todoni, who has risen over 130 spots in the PIF Rankings over the last year, continued to exhibit big hitting in the second set, earning a break point in the first game.

But Zheng got out of that jam, then took control with her own power plays to cruise through the rest of the match. Fittingly, last year’s ace leader Zheng converted her first match point with her eighth ace of the day.

Andreeva advances: Also on Sunday, No.14 seed Mirra Andreeva was the 2025 Australian Open’s first victor. The youngest player in the Top 20, Andreeva eased past former Wimbledon quarterfinalist Marie Bouzkova 6-3, 6-3 in their opening-round affair.

The 17-year-old Andreeva, who made the Round of 16 in her Australian Open debut last year, fired 27 winners to Bouzkova’s 11 in her 1-hour and 36-minute victory.

Andreeva excelled on return, winning 11 of the Czech’s 15 second-serve points. Under the closed roof of John Cain Arena, Andreeva broke World No.42 Bouzkova’s serve six times.

“I now also like to step in and finish the point at the net,” Andreeva said in her post-match press conference. “I’m not afraid to step in the court and to go forward and to try to be even more aggressive.

“We have improved everywhere, I would say, because, well, we have been working hard on those elements of my game, so I can see the difference. I hope that you can see it, as well.”

In the second round, Andreeva will face either 2023 Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette of Poland or Moyuka Uchijima of Japan.

More to come…