A total of 11 players from the Chinese mainland competed in the men's and women's singles first rounds at the Australian Open. Four advanced while the other seven were knocked out at the initial hurdle at Melbourne Park, in the first Grand Slam of the season.
Fifth-seeded Zheng Qinwen defeated Anca Todoni of Romania 7-6(3), 6-1 in their first head-to-head meeting in the women's bracket. The first set lasted 75 minutes, but Zheng survived the extra session, and then ended the battle quickly in the second set. But she was eliminated by Laura Siegemund of Germany 7-6(3), 6-3 in the second round.
35-year-old veteran Zhang Shuai, who's competing as a wildcard, beat the USA's McCartney Kessler 6-3, 6-4 to secure her first win at a Grand Slam in two years.
Wang Xiyu showcased her resilience after battling through a rocky second set to defeat Austria's Julia Grabher 6-1, 7-5, clinching her first victory at Rod Laver Arena in three years.
Wang Yafan delivered an impressive performance as well, coming from a set down to upend Hungary's Anna Bondar 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, reaching the second round at the Australian Open for the second consecutive year.
Four other Chinese ladies had to waive goodbye to Melbourne after suffering defeats in the first round. Wang Xinyu lost to 11th-seeded Spaniard Paula Badosa. Yuan Yue was knocked out by former French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia after a 136-minute-long battle. Grand Slam debutant Wei Sijia was eliminated by World No. 4 Jasmine Paolini of Italy. Zheng Saisai finished her first Australian Open trip in four years with a loss to Russia's Erika Andreeva.
On the men's side, none of the three Chinese players made it past the first round. Zhang Zhizhen fought to five sets against World No. 13 Holger Rune of Denmark, who prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Shang Juncheng had to withdraw during his match against Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina due to a foot injury.
Buyunchaokete suffered a straight-sets defeat to qualifier Hady Habib who is the first Lebanese male to reach a Grand Slam singles main draw.