China’s
Zheng Qinwen has stated that she was taken by surprise
after being penalized for time violation during the
Australian Open. The
22-year-old suffered a shocking exit from the first Grand Slam of the year on Wednesday
where she lost in the second round to Germany’s Laura Siegemund in straight
sets with a score of 7-6, 6-3.
The result was a surprising one considering the fact that
Zheng arrived in the competition as one of the favourites to go all the way
after having a brilliant time in the same tournament where she finished as the
runner-up after losing to the reigning world number one Belarus’ Aryna
Sabalenka in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2.
Zheng, while speaking to the media after the match, highlighted that she got distracted during the match after being penalized for a time violation, which was the first time in her career. She also admitted that the lack of tennis
before the competition also played a role in her second-round exit.
“Obviously it really distract me from the match,” said the
2024 Paris Olympic gold medal winner. “Also it's the first time I have this
situation about time violation I think. This is my fourth year in the tour and
it never happened to me. Yes. Cause you know with my angle, the time was on the
side so I couldn't see if I bounce the ball. I couldn't catch the time. So I
don't know if I'm late or I'm early and I was so surprised to get that second
serve because it never happened to me before because the time was not directly
in my vision zone, like straight away. For me there was no chance to play a
tournament before the Australian Open this year because there were some issues
in my body I didn’t solve yet.”