'NEVER HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE': ZHENG BLOWS UP OVER UMPIRE CALL

Last year's Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng has sensationally been eliminated from Melbourne Park, but not without controversy.

The Olympic gold medalist was on the receiving end of a 7-6(3) 6-3 defeat against Germany's Laura Siegemund on John Cain Arena.

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A large momentum swing eventuated in the second set when Zheng was pulled up for a code violation by the chair umpire after failing to abide by the 25-second serve clock limit.

Zheng, the No.5 seed, argued that the shot clock was difficult to see when she was stepping up to the service line.

That ultimately impacted her concentration, as the 22-year-old served a double fault shortly afterwards to hand the break to her opponent.

"I was so surprised to get that second serve (time violation) because it has never happened to me before," Zheng said after her loss.

"If the time was directly in my vision zone, straight away I would serve it.

"That one really distracted me from the match. This is my fourth year on the tour and I’ve never had that happen to me. I didn’t lose the match for that [though]."

Zheng skipped the pre-Australian Open warm-up events, announcing her United Cup withdrawal last month to get her body 100 per cent in shape for the new season.

Siegemund, ranked No.78, will face the winner either Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Anastasia Potapova for a place in the second week.

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