Zheng through despite 'stupid mistake' in wet Melbourne

Zheng Qinwen was runner-up to Coco Gauff at the WTA Finals at the end of last season

Australian Open 2025

Dates: 12-26 January Venue: Melbourne Park

Coverage: Live radio commentary on Tennis Breakfast from 07:00 GMT on BBC 5 Sports Extra, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app

Zheng Qinwen recovered from a "stupid mistake" to begin her Australian Open bid with a straight-set win on a rain-disrupted first day in Melbourne.

Chinese fifth seed Zheng, beaten by Aryna Sabalenka in last year's final, won 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 against Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni under the roof on Rod Laver Arena.

The Olympic gold medallist served for the opening set at 5-4 40-0, but could not take any of her three set points.

Todoni, 20, had never beaten a top-50 opponent and had the chance to move halfway to a shock win after creating three set points on Zheng's serve at 6-5.

But she could not convert and Zheng, 22, held before stepping up a gear in the tie-break.

The second set was more straightforward as Zheng, backed as usual by a huge number of Chinese fans, broke early before cruising through to victory.

"The first set is always not easy, especially because I was doing stupid mistakes - I don't know what happened there," she said.

"But I am happy to get through."

On expectations rising after winning the Olympic title, she added: "Of course there starts to be more pressure but [the fans] are pushing me to become a better person and better athlete.

"I like to play with pressure. Like what Billie Jean King says - pressure is a privilege. I love this sentence.

"Let's keep going and playing with pressure."

While Zheng was able to complete her match indoors, a heavy thunderstorm caused play on the outdoor courts to be suspended until 18:00 local time (07:00 GMT).

Vekic sends support to coach amid LA wildfires

Donna Vekic drew a heart and wrote "LA" on a courtside camera lens following her opening win in a show of support to her coach, Pam Shriver, who has stayed at home in Los Angeles to help her family deal with the wildfires that have devastated the United States' second-largest city.

At least 16 people have died and, as of late Saturday, authorities in LA are continuing to manage four main blazes around the city.

After defeating Diane Parry 6-4 6-4, 28-year-old Vekic spoke of the "horrible situation" facing Shriver, a winner of 21 major women's doubles titles.

"It's a very difficult situation for her. She's home in Los Angeles. Her house is okay for now but so many have lost everything and it's a horrible situation," said Croatia's Olympic silver medallist.

"We were doing our pre-season in Los Angeles this year, so we were just there two weeks ago. I really can't believe what's happening.

"We're very sad that she's not here with us. We really miss her here. We're in touch daily and I hope everything will be okay."

Elsewhere, Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva recorded a straight-set first-round win over Czech Marie Bouzkova.

The 17-year-old, who reached her first major singles semi-final at the 2024 French Open one year after making her major debut there, recorded a routine 6-3 6-3 win and plays Magda Linette or Moyuka Uchijima next.