Qinwen Zheng, the first Chinese player to win a singles Gold Olympic medal in Paris 2024, made a successful comeback to the WTA Tour since undergoing arthroscopic surgery last July, beating Colombia’s Emiliana Arango 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday.
Following an early exit at Wimbledon, the former WTA No. 4 underwent arthroscopic surgery, which sidelined the 22-year-old from official competition for nearly three months.
At the time, she wrote on her Instagram account that she had been dealing with “persistent pain in my right elbow during training and matches” for several months. After consulting with a specialist, the procedure was her “best option to fully resolve the issue.”
Over 80 days into her recovery journey, the ninth-ranked player decided to compete at the WTA 1000 tournament despite not being at 100 percent, going against her team’s advice.
“I know that fans are not really trying to urge me to come back. It is me. I miss competition. I miss the crowd,” the player shared in a post-match press conference.
As expected, Zheng was a bit rusty during her opening contest, misfiring at crucial moments.
Regardless, she found her way to execute her game plan and overpower Arango, setting up a meeting with No. 26 seed Linda Noskova.
Zheng leads the Czech player in their series 2-0.
“My serve wasn’t really reaching the speed I want,” explained Pere Riba’s pupil. “If I recover more, I can increase my speed. I think that’s the rest of the 20 percent I’m working on.”
Adding: “In every training session, I see those fans, and I really want to play in front of these people.”
Gauff Bidding to Retain China Open Title
WTA No. 3 Coco Gauff kept her quest to defend her title at the China Open alive on Saturday after rallying through three intense sets to beat Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 45 minutes, securing her spot in the round of 16 in Beijing.
“The conditions were so slow, which I feel like she does well with, because she likes to take the ball so early,” said the two-time major champion. “I felt like my heaviness wasn’t doing a lot with her as the balls got older. I found when I had new balls, I would win, like, two or three games in a row.
“I think the toughest part was just dealing with the conditions and trying to feel like I could hit through her, but I couldn’t do that as well today as I felt like I did earlier this year.”
The American made the difference when it mattered the most in the first set, excelling on the return game.
With the score tied at 4-4 in the second set, Fernandez kicked up a level, adding pressure on Gauff’s serve, and her efforts paid off, splitting the score one set apiece.
However, the 2021 US Open finalist lacked consistency in the final set, allowing her adversary to seize the moment and eventually wrap a hard-fought win in her third match point.
Earlier on Friday, the 21-year-old coached by Gavin MacMillan launched her campaign with an enthralling performance to outlast Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 6-0, dropping just four games in the process.
The second seed will next play Swiss Belinda Bencic in the fourth round.
The No. 15 seed fiercely battled to earn a comeback triumph over Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.