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Zheng through despite 'stupid mistake' in wet Melbourne

Zheng Qinwen clenches her fist during her 2025 Australian Open first roundGetty Images

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

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport tennis news reporter at Melbourne

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 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 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.

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