Apparently not at her peak yet, underscored by her three double faults and sub-par first-serve percentage, Zheng wielded her pinpoint forehand shots to dictate the play, converting three of four break points to defeat Arango for a second straight time, following a straight-sets win over the same opponent in the round of 64 at Roland Garros.

"Do you miss me? Cuz I miss you guys so much!" Zheng shouted to rousing reactions from a capacity crowd at the 15,000-seat central court after her win.

"I am really happy to play in front of my home crowd, especially coming from an injury and over two months without competition," said the current world No 9 and last year's semifinalist in Beijing.

"I just missed the feeling of competing against an opponent, missed the feeling of playing in front of my people."