Current location:health >>
Zheng solves her Sakkari conundrum
health34People have gathered around
IntroductionZheng Qinwen returns to third seed Maria Sakkari during their round-of-16 match on Wednesday at the ...
Zheng Qinwen returns to third seed Maria Sakkari during their round-of-16 match on Wednesday at the WTA 500 Zhengzhou Open in Zhengzhou, Henan province. Zheng won 7-6 (2), 6-3 to secure her first win over the Greek world No 6 in three meetings. BAI TAO/FOR CHINA DAILY
Chinese star secures first win over world No 6 to rack up yet another milestone in a year packed full of breakthroughs
Zheng Qinwen underlined her status as the future of Chinese women's tennis with a 7-6 (2), 6-3 win over sixth-ranked Maria Sakkari at the Zhengzhou Open on Wednesday.
It was the 21-year-old Zheng's fifth top-10 victory of her young career and set up a quarterfinal with Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina.
Zheng sealed victory with her 13th ace of the match, to the delight of the home fans.
The result was Zheng's first over Sakkari in three meetings. The Greek player had previously ended Zheng's Grand Slam debut in the second round of the 2022 Australian Open; Zheng also lost in three sets to Sakkari in the first round of Doha this year, despite pulling off one of the shots of the year with a tweener pass. This summer, Zheng has hit two significant milestones in her young career — a maiden title in Palermo and a first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open — and was primed to take revenge.
Ranked 24 in the world, Zheng was dealt a blow a few weeks ago when her coach, Wim Fissette, ended their partnership to go back to working with former world No 1 Naomi Osaka, who is set to return from maternity leave next season.
But the 2022 WTA Newcomer of the Year rebounded in style, clinching gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou and now taking down third seed Sakkari for the first time in three meetings.
"The game plan today was to fight for every single point and try to play aggressive when I can because the last two times I played her I was not aggressive enough and I stayed too long in the same spot," said Zheng. "I also tried to improve my first-serve percentage and return more in the middle. I had a good performance tonight, I think.
"I think tonight the fans here helped me a lot," she added.
Zheng, 21, raced out of the blocks with aggressive intent, slamming down an overhead en route to breaking Sakkari for 2-1. But the set remained close as the Guadalajara champion kept on her heels.
Six of the first nine games featured at least one break point, but only two were converted — the first by Zheng and then, when the Chinese player's backhand went awry in the eighth game, the second by Sakkari to draw level at 4-4.
Despite another flurry of winners, Zheng was unable to regain her advantage in the next game, and from a position of strength found herself having to serve to stay in the set twice. But she showed her mettle by doing so impressively, then dominating the ensuing tiebreak.
There were fewer opportunities in the second set, which was decided by a single break of serve. Zheng's backhand was on song once again, saving an early break point against her with a winner down the line and then finding a delicately sliced pass en route to capturing the Sakkari serve for 4-2.
Zheng tallied 30 winners to 28 unforced errors in total, and sealed her second match point with a 13th ace. She will next face Kalinina, who defeated qualifier Vera Zvonareva 7-5, 6-1 to reach her first quarterfinal since making the Rome final in May.
The seeds' exodus started earlier in the day when Jasmine Paolini knocked out reigning WTA Finals champion and sixth seed Caroline Garcia 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in two hours and 17 minutes.
The Italian world No 31 saved four match points on her own serve at 4-5 in the deciding set before claiming a crucial break in the 11th game to punch her ticket to the quarterfinals for a sixth time in 2023.
Like Zheng, Paolini was determined to stay on the front foot against a higher-ranked opponent, and outdid Garcia at the net throughout. She staved off all four match points serving at 4-5 in the third set, the last thanks to a brilliantly redirected angle off a deep Garcia return. The result was Paolini's third career top-10 win, and moves the 27-year-old into her fourth quarterfinal of 2023.
The 27-year-old now awaits Laura Siegemund or Liudmila Samsonova in the last eight.
"I lost to Caroline four times and it was really tough," she said.
"I think I got experience from the matches that I lost to her and I tried to do something better."
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Stellar Stories news portal”。http://qatar.fidosfortywinks.com/html-84e199839.html
Related articles
The fightback begins: Boss of London's Queen Mary University tells pro
healthA university boss has been praised after telling a pro-Gaza student mob he will not meet them until ...
【health】
Read moreNature themed 3D pavement paintings displayed in Chongqing
healthNaked eye 3D pavement paintings featured with nature and ecoloy attract tourists in Chongqing, May 1 ...
【health】
Read moreChinese State Councilor Stresses Fostering Highly
healthContact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom ...
【health】
Read more
Popular articles
- Pope trip to Luxembourg, Belgium confirmed for September, 2 weeks after challenging Asia visit
- Water projects to help bolster economy
- HK eases restrictions on travel, integrates with national devt
- View of tea garden in China's Hubei
- Liverpool confirms Arne Slot as Jurgen Klopp's replacement
- Mount Huangshan in E China, World Cultural and Natural Heritage
Latest articles
LINKS
- Signatures submitted for 'top two' primary election in Republican
- China extends more inclusive loans to small businesses
- Bank holiday booze
- Point guard Deivon Smith transferring to St. John's from Utah
- José Ramírez breaks Larry Doby’s team record for go
- Chinese scientists create mutant Ebola virus to skirt around biosafety rules
- Anaheim Ducks goaltending coach Sudarshan Maharaj declared cancer
- Nonprofit Chicago production house Invisible Institute wins 2 Pulitzer Prizes
- The family of Irvo Otieno criticizes move to withdraw murder charges against 5 deputies
- Man recreates 20