By Levi J Parsons
MELBOURNE, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's hopes were dashed in the second round of action at the Australian Open on Wednesday, with both Zhang Shuai and Duan Yinying exiting the tournament after tough, hard fought matches.
With Monday's stunning first round victory over the reigning U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, Zhang was eager to continue her excellent form.
But 24-year old Czech player Denisa Allertova had other ideas, and overcame Zhang in a highly entertaining contest that ended 6-4, 7-5 (7-5).
"We played a great match today," Zhang told Xinhua.
"She plays great tennis and all the Czech players play really fast and for me that made it a little tough to find my rhythm. I don't feel I played badly, I think I lost because she played really well," Zhang added.
It was a similar situation for Duan Yingying when she faced off against world number 7 Jelena Ostapenko.
Although the Latvian tennis ace was in fine form, a determined Duan fought back from a set down, to force the match into a decider.
But the raw power of Ostapenko proved too much for Duan, and she bested her Chinese opponent 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
There was still more disappointment for Chinese players in the first round of doubles matches at the tournament.
Wang Qiang and Wang Yafan were bounced out by Oksana Kalashnikova and Varva Lepchenko despite a spirited performance that produced a 4-6, 2-6 score at the end.
In other doubles action, Han Xinyun and Liang Chen went down to Chan Latisha and Andrea Sestini Hlavackova 6-3, 6-0.
There was one bright spark in the doubles however, with China's Peng Shuai and her cross-straits partner Hsieh Su-Wei, battling their way to a straight sets victory over Mihaela Buzarnescu and Maria Irigoyen to book their place in second round with a 6-3, 7-5 win.
