Rewind to 2024 and Zheng Qinwen was the name on everybody’s lips. At the age of just 20, she reached the Australian Open final and later became the first-ever Asian woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Her semifinal victory against Iga Swiatek was the first loss in 25 games for the Pole at the Roland Garros site. A few months later, Zheng would reach the WTA Finals’ final, where she was agonisingly defeated by Coco Gauff in a final-set tiebreak.
Zheng Qinwen Impresses In Madrid
A Terrific Clay Campaign
After a bumpy start to 2025, with a second-round loss at the Australian Open and immediate exits in Dubai and Qatar, she headed to the States, looking to re-ignite the spark that propelled her through 2024. It proved to be a month of progress, making the quarterfinals in both tournaments, only to fall at the hands of Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka. A disappointing early Madrid exit was swiftly put to bed with a run to the Rome final, where she would face Coco Gauff. It felt like a milestone moment for the former Australian Open runner-up, as she had finally recorded her first win over Aryna Sabalenka in the process.
After the match she said: “We are playing here on clay, I think I have a lot of experience and I play really well on clay courts. Also, it’s my first time playing against her on clay but it was not an easy match. But in general I am just happy to win because in Rome because it’s my first clay court semifinal at a 1000 event.”
Another third-set tiebreak loss to Gauff would follow, and although a hard pill to swallow, it certainly set her up nicely for her first return to Paris since Olympic glory. The seed #8 breezed through to the round of 16 without losing a set, where she faced Luidmila Samsonova. After winning the first set in a tiebreak, Samsonova roared back to force a decider with a comprehensive 6-1 set win. All of a sudden, a rematch with Sabalenka was in serious jeopardy. Yet, Zheng dug deep with some particularly excellent serving to take the decider 6-3.
It’s often said that when you play the likes of Sabalenka, it’s one thing to win in a tour event but a whole other thing on the Grand Slam stage. We have seen this in recent years with Novak Djokovic and also with Carlos Alcaraz at the early stages of his career. This proved to be the case, as Zheng walked out to Court Philippe-Chatrier and played a terrific game. Yet, Sabalenka raised the levels from her Rome display and left with a 7-6 6-3 win.
Shoulder Surgery
A successful clay court season complete, she headed to the UK for the Summer grass court season. While she had been managing a shoulder issue in the previous months, the pain had never left the moderate stage and she continued to play undeterred. However, after a first-round loss at Wimbledon, she opted for shoulder surgery and apart from a premature return to Beijing, she wouldn’t return to the tour until February this year.
A lot has happened in that space of time. Viktoria Mboko and Amanda Anisimova have propelled themselves to the upper echelons of the tennis world, Iga Swiatek has become a Wimbledon champion but struggled elsewhere and Elena Rybakina has picked up her second Grand Slam title. All while Zheng has had to watch from the background through her rehabilitation stage.
A Kenin Comeback
On a return to her favoured clay, Zheng faced a former Roland Garros finalist in Sofa Kenin. She was rather rusty early on, winning just one gam en the opening set. After pulling out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix due to fitness issues, she admitted that a lack of match practice may have hampered her start,
“At the beginning I struggled a lot and for a long time I didn’t (haven’t) compete(d) so for me it’s tough to find the match rhythm. But I am just happy to day to find a way to win the match because really I was struggling, I was trying to find my tennis there.”
After a shaky first set, she began to redline, bullying her American counterpart off the court with some crisp and powerful hitting. With a 6-3 win, she headed into the final set full of confidence. However, Kenin refused to budge, forcing an early break. Although serving 2-1 up, the 27-year-old double-faulted in the opening point. Zheng smelt blood and steamrolled home from there, losing just one of the final six games.
As has been the case so often this season, her low seeding proved costly, as she met second seed Elena Rybakina in the round of 32. She previously faced the Kazakhstani in her first tournament back in the round of 16, where she took the first set but ultimately lost 4-6 6-2 7-5. Likewise, she met Aryna Sabalenka at the same stage in Miami, only to lose 6-3 6-4.
Again, against Rybakina, she showed that she is one of few people who have the tools to go blow for blow with the monstrous ground strokes that the world #2 can produce. For the second time running, she took the first set 6-4. Although Rybakina’s match sharpness showed as she was able to prevail in the crucial moments and see out a 4-6 6-3 6-4 win.
Rybakina Praise
She was very complimentary of Zheng’s display afterwards, stating: “Well honestly, I think the level of the match was better. She was really serving well and returning also on my serves. I don’t think that serve was really an issue today…
Everything was going her way, some crazy shots from a difficult position, some down the line winners, so I am just happy that I took the opportunity in the second set.”
Just how Zheng physically responds to these matches remains to be seen. Even in her 2026 return, there have been some minor setbacks. Of course, precaution is the most sensible route. You can only hope that she is starting to feel more like her true high-performing self out there. Even short of match practice and winning momentum, she has gone toe to toe with one of the in-form players this season. She will be hoping that she can avoid one of the big two in the early stages of Rome and build some momentum heading into Roland Garros. A place where she has previous history.
