Qinwen Zheng booked a place in the Qatar Total Energies Open second round, winning in a comeback win against Sofia Kenin. After losing a scrappy first set 6-4, she dialled in to win 12 of the remaining 15 games and set up a second round with world No. 77 Alycia Parks.
Qinwen Zheng Returns With A Win
A Comeback Story
It marks her first match since last July after undergoing elbow surgery in the summer. It had been causing her issues for much of the season, but she persevered through the pain barrier before it ultimately became too much, and she decided to go under the knife. Seven months later, after an absence longer than she anticipated, she took to court in the Qatari heat, aiming to make a winning start.
On court, she said.
“Nobody expected the recovery of the surgery would take so long. We all thought it was only two months and after I can jump back on the court easily. But at the end when I was in the China Open, my elbow still didn’t have the full extension.”
A Winning Start
Understandably, the first set was rather rusty at times. While there were some winners, Kenin caused problems when she got Zheng on the move. The 23-year-old’s shot-making out of the corners wasn’t at the level we are used to seeing. This erraticness was typified by a loose backhand flying wide to hand the first set to Kenin.
Nevertheless, she reset well and came out in the second set with greater intensity. She broke at the first opportunity and let out a roar of celebration. From that point on, she was able to establish the upper hand and create time on her shots through her flat and deep ground strokes. The beautifully choreographed takeback on both wings was teeing off, as Kenin struggled to remove Zheng from her hitting zone. That usually doesn’t end well.
Plus, she showed a different side to her game. As Kenin expected the powerful ground strokes, the reigning Olympic gold medallist introduced the drop shot to great aplomb, keeping her counterpart guessing. However, the real deciding factor was her service. She registered 20 aces in the match and won 80% of her first serve points.
Often, when players return from a layoff and lack match sharpness, they suffer more at the pressure points. You can play as many practice sets as you want, but it’s impossible to create the tension of the real matches. You wouldn’t have known it was Zheng who was short of gametime, though. She managed the match well, turned it up when she needed to, and saw off four of the five break points that came her way. Just one came after the first set.
Looking Forward
She now faces Alycia Parks in the second round, who is fresh from an impressive deciding set tiebreak win against Diani Shnaider. She is cautiously optimistic, feeling that there are still areas where she can improve.
It’s early days, but Zheng will be looking to return to the heights that 2024 brought her. On the year of her 22nd birthday, she reached an Australian Open final, the WTA Finals final, and beat Iga Swiatek at Rolland Garros en route to an Olympic gold medal.
Her big-hitting game style can be a headache for most on the tour on hard court and clay, and if her first-round victory in Qatar reveals anything, it shows that she might be willing to go down the road of increased variety. Time will tell, but its implications will be an interesting prospect for a player still just 23.
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke – Imagn Images
