Wang makes it to AO third round

MELBOURNE, Australia — China's Wang Xinyu produced a courageous comeback on Thursday against 24th seed Jelena Ostapenko to storm into the Australian Open third round, becoming the only Chinese player in the last 32 of the singles draw, after male compatriots Shang Juncheng and Wu Yibing both lost on Thursday.

Shang went down to Botic Van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands while Wu was beaten by Eliot Spizzirri of the United States.

Wang was down a set and a break before digging deep to prevail 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 20 minutes.

Wang, the world No 46, is China's highest-ranked player in Melbourne after Zheng Qinwen withdrew ahead of the tournament.

There are high hopes for Wang, who has never progressed past the fourth round at a Grand Slam.

She entered the tournament in strong form after reaching her second career final with a runner-up finish to Elina Svitolina in Auckland, before having a dominant straight-sets victory over qualifier Anhelina Kalinina in the first round.

But Ostapenko, a former No 3 and 2017 French Open champion, had the edge in a hard-fought 48-minute first set, driving home a backhand winner at the net to gain a stranglehold.

Wang was in a big hole in the second set before stunningly reeling off four straight games to draw level.

The 24-year-old gained a crucial break in the eighth game to lead 5-3 but couldn't close it out on serve before finally sealing victory.

She next plays Czech 13th seed Linda Noskova, who defeated Australian wildcard Taylah Preston 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.