MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 18: Qiang Wang of China plays her first round match against Sloane Stephens of the United States during day one of the 2016 Australian Open at Melbourne Park. (Photo : Getty Images)
Wang Qiang booked a second round showdown against Anna-Lena Friedsam after stunning American Sloane Stephens in their opener 6-3 6-3.
Despite being ranked 76 spots below Stephens, Wang managed to keep the 24th seeded American in the first round of the 2016 Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
"She's a good player and I watched her match before so I know her a little bit and I just tried," Wang said, reports Reuters UK. "It was my first time at Hisense so I was a little bit nervous."
Wang closed out the match after breaking in the first game of the second set, becoming the second player in the women's draw to eliminate a seeded player.
After the match, Stephens acknowledged the skills of Wang, who was compared to two-time Grand Slam winner and fellow Chinese Li Na due to her impressive forehand action.
"She's played all this week, three solid matches," Stephens said, reports the Shanghai Daily. "She played a really good match and I wish her well in the future."
The 24-year-old Wang now faces a huge task of overcoming the Friedsam in the second round of the first Grand Slam event of the year.
Friedsam had to battle through Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-6(3) 2-6 6-1 to advance in the next round, where she and Wang could face the winner between USA's Irina Falconi Italy's Roberta Vinci. Thanks to her win over Lino, Friedsam reached the second round for the first time in her career.
Meanwhile, other Chinese hopefuls like Wang Yafan and Wu Di failed to advance into the second round of the tournament.
Wang lost over Greece's Maria Sakkari 6-4 1-6 6-3, while Wu, China's only player in the men's draw, was the first to get eliminated.
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