Qinwen Zheng, the No. 5 seed and 2024 Australian Open runner-up, was handed a shocking second-round defeat by world No. 97 Laura Siegemund on Wednesday.

Zheng Qinwen is out of the Australian Open after a shock defeat to Germany’s Laura Siegemund. Zheng, the No. 5 seed and last year’s beaten finalist, lost 7-6(3), 6-3 after her serve unraveled in the fourth game of the second set.

In the Australian Open Round of 64 on Tuesday, we have a matchup of No. 5-ranked Qinwen Zheng versus No. 97 Laura Siegemund.In her most recent time out, Siegemund was defeated by Yuliia

Zheng Qinwen, last year’s beaten Australian Open finalist, became the highest seed to fall so far in this year’s tournament after she was stunned by world No. 97 Laura Siegemund in the second round.

Rising star Qinwen Zheng lost in the second round to 36-year-old Laura Siegemund, ranked 97. How did the German unseat last year's finalist?

Beating Zheng Qinwen at the Australian Open was obviously too much for Laura Siegemund – the German was thrashed by Russian 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round on Friday. The 36-year-old had dominated China’s Olympic gold medallist in their clash two days ago,

Last year’s beaten finalist Zheng Qinwen blamed the lack of a warm-up event and a serve clock violation for her shock Australian Open 2025 exit in straight sets to German veteran Laura Siegemund on Wednesday.