MELBOURNE, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tennis veteran Zhang Shuai made it into the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday, after winning a rain-interrupted second round match against the Czech Republic's Kristyna Pliskova 6-3, 7-5.

Controlling the pace of play early on with her powerful serve and some precision hitting from the baseline, Zhang looked dominant in the opening stages of the match.

"In the first set I played well, but after rain stopped play my opponent regained her composure and improved a lot in the second," Zhang told Xinhua after the match.

"Her return became much better and her serve also improved as well."

"Although she was looking to attack much more and putting me under pressure, I still believed I could win the match and I just kept fighting."

Now into the third round, Zhang's victory sets up a match with Ukraine's world No. 7 Elina Svitolina.

With both players making it to the quarterfinals of the tournament in previous years, the contest promises to be an interesting battle for tennis fans, and Zhang reserved praise for her next opponent.

"Over the past two to three years she has been outstanding. She is a very smart player and hopefully the next round will be a great match between us."

The Chinese added, "Playing in Grand Slams against great players is a great feeling and a great experience and I am looking forward to it."