Olympic champion Zheng suffers early Wimbledon exit

LONDON :Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen became the second big casualty at Wimbledon on Tuesday as the Chinese fifth seed was beaten 7-5 4-6 6-1 in the first round by Czech Katerina Siniakova.

Zheng powered her way to gold in Paris last year and was tipped for a strong run at the All England Club but doubles specialist Siniakova had too much grasscourt craft.

Siniakova, three-times women's doubles champion at the All England Club, took the opening set when Zheng netted a backhand.

Zheng, Australian Open runner-up in 2024, raised her game to level the match but could not carry the momentum into the deciding set and slumped to her third successive first-round defeat at Wimbledon.

Siniakova's victory meant she avoided three successive Wimbledon first-round losses and she will face Japan's four-times major winner Naomi Osaka in the second round.

Earlier, American Jessica Pegula, the third seed, was dismantled 6-2 6-3 by Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto.