The 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams clawed back to eliminate No. 17 seed Ashleigh Barty, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, with one round to go before a possible clash with arch rival Maria Sharapova, who got past Donna Vekic 7-5, 6-4.

No 27 seed Zhang lost to Irina-Camelia Begu, her training partner for some time, 6-3, 6-4.

Zhang lost a grueling 15-minute ninth game featuring many deuces, before conceding the first set 6-3. Then the Romanian maintained her momentum in the second set to build a 5-3 lead into her match-winning service.

Zhang displayed her resilience to save one match point from Begu before cutting the deficit to 5-4. However, Begu didn't let slip away the chance again with two match points in hand, sealing the win with a high-quality backhand.

"To be honest with you, she was much strong than me on clay. I was restrained by her in today's match," commented Zhang.

Fresh from her first victory in French Open singles matches for the past five years, Peng snapped her journey at Roland Garros following a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 loss to seventh-seeded Frenchwomen Caroline Garcia.

China's Zheng Saisai and her partner Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan bowed out from the women's doubles first round, also for Wang Yafan and Australian Monique Adamczak.

Yang Zhaoxuan lost her mixed doubles first round with Aisam Qureshi of Pakistan.

Following the exit of Zhang and Peng, Wang Qiang is the only Chinese player active in women's singles of the tournament. She will face Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in third round on Friday, hoping to refresh her personal best at Grand Slam tournaments.

Wang will also feature in doubles first round with Begu, while Duan Yingying and Yang Zhaoxuan will play their doubles second round matches.