Zheng Jie pins hope on doubles in Australian Open

Zheng Jie 

Melbourne, Jan 20 (IANS)

After crashing out of the singles in the first round, Chinese tennis star Zheng Jie has pinned her hopes on the doubles in the Australian Open. Zheng was beaten by Chinese Taipei's Chang Kai-Chen 1-6, 2-6 in the first round of the singles format Tuesday, reports Xinhua.

"I wasn't quite myself on the court today. I took a surgery at the end of last year and missed the winter training," said the 31-year-old after getting beaten.

She was the first wild card to have made it to a Grand Slam semi-final as she reached the Wimbledon last four in 2008.

She also reached the semi-finals of the 2010 Australian Open. Zheng will pair up with Chan Yung-jan of Chinese Taipei in the doubles. She praised her partner and voiced optimism about their performance.

"We always have good teamwork. Yung-jan and I trained together a couple of times and our cooperation is good," said Zheng.

"Actually I have higher expectations in the doubles as it is not so straining as the singles competition. I hope we play well," she added.