Zheng falls in dramatic rain-delayed three-setter with controversial call at French Open

PARIS -- In a dramatic and rain-interrupted match at the French Open on Saturday, China's Zheng Qinwen battled fiercely but ultimately fell in a three-set thriller against Elina Avanesyan.

The match was marked by a controversial call in the second set that saw Zheng's momentum falter, concluding with a narrow defeat in the decisive tiebreak 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) after a gruelling battle of two hours and 52 minutes.

Zheng managed to mount a strong comeback from the brink of defeat at 5-2 behind in the decider, when her Russian opponent was serving, and win four games in a row to earn her a chance to break for the victory in the 12th game. But Avanesyan held her nerve to take the game and outperformed in the tiebreak to clinch the eventual win.

"I realized that when I played more relaxed, I could hit better shots and open up the angles. But towards the end, I made unforced errors because I was attacking while my opponent was defending. The rain made the balls heavier, and I couldn't hit with the same speed and penetration. Many times I came to the net and lost points, I need to improve my volley," said the No. 7 seed Zheng.

Zheng's loss also means that no Chinese players have advanced to the second week of this year's French Open as just a day earlier, two other Chinese players, Zhang Zhizhen and Wang Xinyu, were eliminated in the third round of the men's and women's singles, respectively.

A controversial moment arose in the second set, when Zheng once again secured an early break and served at 2-1. Avanesyan's return was ruled in by the umpire after a court inspection. The Chinese world No. 7, with a look of disbelief on her face, questioned the call, believing it was a misjudgment.

"I already showed you," Brazilian umpire Aline Rocha said to Zheng on the court.

It appeared that the umpire had inspected an incorrect ball mark from a previous point, leading to the wrong call. Television broadcast footage confirmed that the ball was indeed out. This incident seemed to affect Zheng's mindset, causing fluctuations in her performance.

Avanesyan capitalized on this, winning five successive games from 3-3 in the second set, pushing the match to a third set. She then claimed an early break in the decider before the match was interrupted by rain when the world No. 70 led by 2-1.

"The umpire's misjudgment did affect me for a few points, but it wasn't the reason I lost. If the call had been correct, I might have won that game, but it's hard to say.

"I didn't expect such an apparent mistake to happen at a Grand Slam, especially since the ball mark was so obvious. What I couldn't accept was the umpire pointing to a nonexistent mark. I couldn't believe such a basic error happened in such a serious setting. But after that, I had to move on and keep playing," the 22-year-old said.

"Everyone makes mistakes, but the umpire's mistake was remarkable. Even though I lost five games in a row after that, I tried to stay positive and shake off the negative feelings, especially during the rain delay."

Avanesyan broke again after the match was resumed and stormed to a commanding 5-2 lead in the third set before Zheng produced the brilliant comeback but failed again in the tiebreak.

Next for the Russian is Italy's No. 12 seed Jasmine Paolini.

Elsewhere, 24-time Grand Slam winner and defending champion Novak Djokovic survived a five-set thriller by overcoming Italian Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 to progress.