China's Wang Xiyu showcased her resilience by battling through a rocky second set to defeat Austria's Julia Grabher 6-1, 7-5 in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday. The victory marked her first win at Rod Laver Arena in three years.

Last month, at the ASB Classic in Auckland, Wang suffered a disappointing exit in the first round at the hands of 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin. But against the lower-ranked Grabher, Wang quickly found her stride, taking seven consecutive games.

Although she experienced two breaks of serve in the second set, the 23-year-old Chinese ultimately swept to victory. In the next round, she will go up against the USA's Emma Navarro.

Another Chinese player, Wang Yafan, delivered an impressive performance as well, coming from a set down to defeat Hungary's Anna Bondar 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The win sent her into the second round of the Australian Open for the second consecutive year.

In the first set, Wang missed a crucial break point opportunity in the fifth game, and was subsequently broken in the sixth, dropping the set 6-3. But in the second set, she rallied by winning four consecutive points in the eighth game to break her opponent and take a 5-3 lead into her service game.

The 30-year-old converted her third set point in the ninth game, winning 6-3 and forcing a decider. In the third set, Wang broke twice to establish a 4-3 lead and held serve in the tenth game to seal the deal 6-4. In her next match, the world No.64 will face Russian ninth seed Daria Kasatkina for a spot in the last 32.

In a disappointing turn for China, Yuan Yue fell short against 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, following a thrilling three-set battle. The Russian maintained her composure after stumbling in the second set and secured a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 triumph, while Yuan, ranked 43rd, exited the tournament.

On the men's side, Zhang Zhizhen, China's top-ranked male player, fell short in a grueling five-set match against 13th seed Holger Rune, who ultimately prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Zhang had previously faced two top-five players, Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz, at the United Cup, where he showed impressive resilience despite not securing a victory.

In his clash with Denmark's Rune, Zhang demonstrated remarkable tenacity and the ability to handle pressure, but came up short at critical moments, resulting in an agonizing defeat.

Meanwhile, Zhang's compatriot Shang Juncheng had to withdraw during his match against Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina due to injury, meaning all of China's male players were eliminated in the first round.