Australian Open 2021: Wang Qiang, China’s No 1, crashes out in first round

Chinese No 1 Wang Qiang has crashed out of the Australian Open after losing to Italy’s Sara Errani in the first round on Monday, in a match similar to her warm-up tournament loss a week ago.

Wang, the world No 34 and 30th seed in Melbourne, had won the first set 6-2 before Errani bounced back in the second.

The Italian won that 6-4 and then took the deciding set by the same score, though both players had chances to win in a topsy turvy ninth game with the scores level at 4-4 – after Wang had missed the chance to go 4-1 up.

Errani triumphed in that epic ninth game, after Wang had spurned several chances to win at advantage.

The Tianjin-born player then served to stay in the match but failed to do so in front of a crowd including her coach Pat Cash. Errani plays Venus Williams in the second round.

It was the second week in a row where Wang had lost to an Italian in Melbourne after taking the first set. She lost her first round match at the Gippsland Trophy warm-up event to Jasmine Paolini.

China’s No 1 Wang crashes out of Australian Open warm-up

Last year Wang reached the last 16 at Melbourne Park after beating Serena Williams but this year her luck was out despite winning 93 points to Errani’s 91 in the match and the pair winning 14 games each.

Wang stopped playing and also split wit h her coach Thomas Drouet in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 29-year-old will soon have gone a year without winning a match, the last one coming last February 12 in Hua Hin.