#6 Zhang Shuai: First Round at the 2016 Australian Open
The feel good story to come out of the WTA tour in the first half of 2016 was undoubtedly that of the Tianjin-born Zhang Shuai. Contemplating retirement at the beginning of the 2016 Australian Open, owing to her lack of success at Grand Slam tournaments, the Chinese veteran notched up her first ever main draw victory at a major. Having played through the qualifying draw, she went on to beat the world no. 2 Romania’s Simona Halep.
Zhang followed her tremendous win with victories over other higher ranked opponents, including Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, and the hard-hitting Americans Varvara Lepchenko and Madison Keys, before falling short to Johanna Konta.
Considering her 0-14 record at all the previous Grand Slam events, her run to the quarterfinal was nonetheless the most rewarding experience in her long career, not to say an inspirational one as well.
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