A 36-year-old veteran, Zhang Shuai, swept past the world No. 8 to advance to the third round of the China Open, benefiting Zheng Qinwen in the process.
Facing the winner between Russian players Potapova and Minnen, Zhang Shuai has the potential to continue her upset streak and reach the round of 16. After a 24-match losing streak in singles, she has finally achieved a long-awaited two consecutive victories.
With Zhang Shuai's elimination of Navarro, Zheng Qinwen has become the biggest beneficiary. On the current year-end championship points leaderboard, Navarro is also Zheng Qinwen's fiercest competitor, currently ranked 7th, while Zheng Qinwen is ranked 9th and Collins is 8th. With the early exits of these two players, if Zheng Qinwen performs well at this event, she has a good chance of surpassing them both to secure a spot at the year-end finals.
Let's take a look back at the detailed match statistics between Zhang Shuai and Navarro:
Zhang Shuai received a wildcard entry for this tournament, ranking 595th in the world, while Navarro is ranked 8th in the world and is the 6th seed for this event. This was their first career meeting, with pre-match odds of 1.06:10.00, indicating that the officials believed Zhang Shuai would suffer a crushing defeat.
The match lasted a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes. Zhang Shuai did not have any aces or double faults throughout the match, but had an impressive first serve success rate of 75%, a first serve point win rate of 64%, and a second serve point win rate of 60%. She broke Navarro's serve 5 times, with a break point conversion rate of 78%, a return point win rate of 54%, and a total of 68 points.
Navarro made 1 double fault in the match, without any aces, had a first serve success rate of 63%, a first serve point win rate of 56%, and a second serve point win rate of only 29%. Her break point conversion rate was just 29%, her hold rate was only 44%, her return point win rate was 37%, and she scored a total of 48 points.
First set: From the start of the match, Zhang Shuai showed remarkable form, despite trailing 15-40, she fought hard to catch up. Although she did not manage to break or hold serve, falling behind 0-2, her fighting spirit is commendable. Zhang Shuai then raised her game, winning four games in a row to lead 4-2. Although Navarro managed to win two games back, Zhang Shuai took control in the last two games, winning another two to claim the first set 6-4.
Second set: The match remained intense from the start, with both players holding serve in the first four games to tie at 2-2. In the following four games, Zhang Shuai firmly controlled the rhythm of the match, with Navarro only managing to score four points. Zhang Shuai won four games in a row to advance to the third round with a 6-2 victory.