Halep gave similar reasons for her 6-4 6-3 defeat at the hands of Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai, who was ranked 131 places below the Romanian in the rankings going into their contest over on Margaret Court Arena.
Advertisement
Second-seeded Simona Halep is the latest seed to fall at Melbourne Park, losing to Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour.
Simona Halep of Romania returns the ball to Shuai Zhang of China during their first round match of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2016.
Zhang, who was watched on by both her parents for the first time in her entire career, was visible emotional after breaking through for her first win in a Grand Slam in 14 attempts.
World No 2 Simona Halep said Sunday she is determined to taste grand slam glory but is keeping her expectations in check after an injury-marred build-up to the Australian Open.
Andy Murray, a four-time finalist who is seeking his first win in Melbourne, dispatched Germany’s Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in hot conditions to move into the second round.
“I played really well today… against a great player”, Zhang said.
“I’m a little bit sick, cold, yeah, with my nose”, she told reporters on Sunday. Because… maybe this is last time in Australia Open.
“I might be rusty, make a few more unforced errors than I would like but I’m ready to go”, Sharapova said. “And I felt I really want to have this kind of life, to feel relaxed and really enjoy life”, Zhang said.
“Actually I feel good”.
“But I didn’t think (within) two month’s that I could win (against) a top-two player”.
But the five-time Grand Slam victor says she is now “feeling really good”, despite the lack of a warm-up tournament.
“I’m pretty happy – I don’t think I’m looking for perfection, I’m looking for effort. Then you do physical training… a lot goes into tennis”.
Muguruza reached the final of Wimbledon a year ago and was clinical versus Kontaveit, while Azarenka was on court for just 53 minutes in a devastating display.
After a breakthrough year in 2014, when she made her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros and won two tournaments, Halep consolidated her rise by claiming titles at Shenzhen, Dubai and Indian Wells, raking in more than US$4.5 million ($9.2m) in prize money.
“Yesterday I saw her… she’s always helping the young players”.
Advertisement
Zhang said before her win she had been considering hanging up her racket for a simpler life on the land with her friends.
