New York (AFP) – Zheng Qinwen’s storming run through qualifying to the US Open quarter-finals has the 2024 Olympic gold medallist finally feeling like a force on the court again. The Chinese star fell in three sets to world number two Elena Rybakina on Wednesday, but her time in New York was a leap in the right direction for the former world number four. A lengthy recovery from elbow surgery last year had been followed by indifferent results. Zheng’s ranking dropped so low that she had to come through three rounds of qualifying to make the US Open main draw — tough on her ego but apparently good for her game.
“I think the good thing is I know how to compete better than the beginning of the year,” Zheng said. “In the beginning of the year, I was a bit totally out of tournament rhythm, and obviously this tournament helps me to find myself little by little.” Zheng’s run to the last eight included a remarkable rally against former Australian Open champion Madison Keys, who held a 5-0 lead in the third set only for Zheng to win the last seven games for a 1-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 triumph. Zheng saved a match point in that contest, and in her next put together another seven-game run in the first set as she stunned six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-3.
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“I think tennis gives me a lesson all the time that (as long as) the match is not over, you just have to keep fighting,” she said. “Second thing is I think there is so much more I still have on myself to improve.” Those were the positives she said she was taking despite her disappointment in the wake of her loss to Rybakina. “There are some decisions in important moments I wasn’t doing right,” she said of the Rybakina match. “It was also a very physical match for me. I could take some positive things, and the rest I could go back and (see) what I can do better.”
Currently ranked 121st in the world, she’s projected to break into the top 60 on the strength of her New York showing, just in time for the WTA Tour’s Asian swing, which features four tournaments in China, including 1000 level events in Beijing and Wuhan. “I’m always so excited to play in China, and especially coming from quallies at the US Open and then reaching until (quarter-finals). That was really, really difficult journey for me,” Zheng said. “Playing at home always makes me more motivated, and at the same time carries some pressure, because I really want to do well there. I just want to keep calm and just train day by day, focus on the match by match, focus on the present.”
© 2024 AFP
