China's Zhang Shuai (L) and Madison Keys of the US shake hands after Zhang won their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park, Australia, January 25, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

At a packed Rod Laver Arena on Monday, a group of Chinese spectators cheered each of Zhang's winning shots before standing to applaud her after the match.

"Congratulations to Zhang! She deserves the win. It's so exciting to see there remains a Chinese player going on in the deep phase of a Grand Slam tournament," said a micro blog user nicknamed as Leadersen on Sina Weibo, China's microblogging network.

After winning three qualification matches to enter the main draw, Zhang delivered the biggest upset in the tournament by defeating world No 2 Simona Halep of Romania in the first round before ousting Alize Cornet of France in the second and US veteran Varvara Lepchenko in the third.