Things are looking up for China's aces Down Under

Ten years after legend Li Na's inspirational win, Chinese tennis is again taking the Australian Open by storm, as a rarely-seen collective surge is stealing the show in Melbourne.

Having watched the replay of Li's 2014 final "more than 10 times", top Chinese women's ace Zheng Qinwen has left her own mark on the season-opening major by charging into the third round of the competition for the first time in her career with a straight-set victory over Katie Boulter of Britain on Thursday.

Despite windy conditions at Melbourne Park, world No 15 Zheng refocused to prevail in a power battle after wasting five match points in her final service game to clinch a 6-3, 6-3 win against Boulter, with an ace at the sixth attempt to claim an emphatic victory.