Zhang Shuai suffers consecutive defeats after Australian Open victory, exiting both singles and doubles in the first round at Indian Wells!

Women's doubles has consistently been a strong area for Chinese tennis. In the first Grand Slam of the 2026 season, the Australian Open women's doubles title was claimed by Chinese player Zhang Shuai. Partnering with Belgian player Elise Mertens as the tournament's No. 4 seeded pair, they successively defeated teams including Kostyuk/Kalinina, Mboko/Jovic, Baptiste/Stearns, Higashino/Wu, and Zvonareva/Chihara to reach the women's doubles final. Ultimately, in the final, they defeated Danilina/Krunić in straight sets, earning Zhang Shuai her third Grand Slam women's doubles title in her career.

However, after the Australian Open women's doubles final, Zhang Shuai participated in three consecutive women's doubles tournaments: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Indian Wells. In Abu Dhabi, partnering with Bucșa, she defeated the Kichenok sisters in the first round but was eliminated in the second match by Zeng/Liera. Subsequently, Zhang Shuai resumed her partnership with Mertens, and the pair were stopped in the first round in both following tournaments.

In the recently concluded WTA1000 Indian Wells women's doubles first round, Zhang Shuai and Mertens faced the challenge of Andreeva/Mboko. After losing the first set 4-6, they managed to level the match by winning the second set 6-4. However, they ultimately fell short in the deciding tie-break, losing 8-10, resulting in a 1-2 overall defeat and marking two consecutive losses since their Australian Open triumph.

Nevertheless, despite earning only 10 women's doubles points and $19,510 in doubles prize money at this tournament, Zhang Shuai and Mertens still maintain a high ranking of third in the women's doubles championship standings. Currently, Mertens remains world No. 1 in women's doubles, while Zhang Shuai holds the 14th position.

In the earlier concluded Indian Wells women's singles first round, Zhang Shuai was eliminated in straight sets by Yastremska, resulting in Zhang Shuai exiting both the singles and doubles events in the first round at this year's Indian Wells tournament.

Another Chinese player who exited the tournament alongside Zhang Shuai is Wang Xinyu. As the No. 30 seed in the women's singles event, she enjoyed a first-round bye but was swept out in the second round by Australian player Tomljanović, ranked only 85th in the world, with scores of 6-3 and 6-1, failing to advance to the third round. The entire match lasted just 1 hour and 8 minutes.

Wang Xinyu was relatively passive throughout the match. Although she managed to secure eight break points, she failed to convert any of them. Wang Xinyu not only missed an opening victory but also suffered three consecutive defeats in tour-level singles matches.

Of course, Chinese player Zheng Qinwen has yet to compete in the women's singles event. Her match is scheduled to take place around 7 AM Beijing time tomorrow. Having also received a first-round bye, she will face Ružić, who has performed well this season, in the second round. So, do you think Zheng Qinwen can secure a victory?Source: Tennis Home Author: Barbie