Siniakova hands No. 5 seed Zheng an early exit at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON -- There’s something about grass that agrees with Katerina Siniakova.

The 29-year-old from the Czech Republic owns a winning record in singles at the All England Club, and she’s won the doubles title twice, most recently last year with Taylor Townsend. Her last singles crown came two years ago on the lawns of Bad Homburg.

On Tuesday, Siniakova added another substantial item to her resume on the green stuff, upsetting No. 5 seed Zheng Qinwen 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 to advance to Wednesday’s second-round match against unseeded Naomi Osaka. The Court 3 battle consumed 2 hours and 25 minutes on another blistering day.

It was the second Top 5 upset in a matter of hours, following No. 3 Jessica Pegula’s 6-2, 6-3 loss to Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

In four appearances at Wimbledon, the 22-year-old from China has produced only two wins.

“I think maybe it’s me,” Zheng said later. “I should do better in my service game. I give her a lot, especially I was leading 5-3 in the first set. At that moment, my concentration were not there. Was a pity.

“Also in the third set I gave her so easy away my service game. That’s the key on grass.”

Zheng was in good position to win the first set, leading 5-3, but Siniakova broke her usually solid serve twice and ran away with the final four games.

The second set was deadlocked at 4-all when Zhen completed a critical break with a lovely backhand overhead winner and served it out.

Siniakova, despite taking a medical timeout on the second set and at times looking affected by the heat, came out fast in the third, breaking Zheng to take a 2-0 lead, a margin that eventually ballooned to 5-0.

Continually harassing Zheng’s serve, Siniakova forced 15 break-point opportunities and converted five of them.