Qinwen Zheng 'so surprised' by what the umpire did in her shock Australian Open defeat which she's never experienced in her career before

Qinwen Zheng has earned the unwanted title of the biggest Australian Open shock so far after falling in the second round.

Zheng said she hasn’t reached her ultimate goal ahead of the Australian Open, having lost last year’s final to Aryna Sabalenka.

But a similar venture is now off the cards in Melbourne after WTA number five Zheng was knocked out by Laura Siegemund.

Zheng was tipped to win the Australian Open, but she was defeated 7-6(7-3) 6-3 by the experienced German on John Cain Arena.

Siegemund was at the very top of her game, with the 36-year-old having used all of her experience to edge past the 22-year-old after two hours and 16 minutes.

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Qinwen Zheng left ‘so surprised’ by time violation after Australian Open exit

But Zheng was also undone by her own shortcomings, with the Paris Olympics gold medal winner having been left frustrated by two time violations.

The first arrived at 1-2, 15-30 in the second set, with the second coming at 2-2, 15-30 shortly after, which cost her a first serve.

She was then asked in her post-match press conference if she was frustrated by the second set violation, and indeed if the shot clock needed to be more visible.

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“Yes, because with my angle, the time was on the side, so I couldn’t see,” replied Zheng. “If I bounce the ball, I couldn’t catch the time. So I don’t know if I’m late or I’m early.

“I was so surprised to get that second serve because that has never happened to me before. Because if the time was directly in my vision zone, like, straightaway I will see it.

“Yeah, obviously that one really distracted me from the match. Yeah, also it is the first time I have this situation about time violation. I think this is my fourth year on the tour, and that never happened to me.”

Qinwen Zheng argues with umpire in biggest Australian Open shock yet

The visibility question went the way of the world number five given her complaints on court, with Zheng having contested with the chair umpire that she couldn’t see the shot clock.

The Chinese star was left visibly shaken at 2-1 down in the second set, with an uncharacteristically poor serve falling a metre short of the net, shocking the crowd.

Players have 25 seconds to serve before the shot clock allowance runs out, with the latest victim’s complaints of visibility not accepted by the chair umpire.

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The fifth seed is now the highest-ranked player across the men’s and women’s singles draws to exit the Australian Open.

Champion Siegemund meanwhile has progressed to the third round, with the world number 97 certain to be thrilled after securing her 11th career top 10 win.

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