In the second round of the WTA1000 Dubai main draw, a focus match took place as Chinese tennis star Zheng Qinwen faced Japanese player Nao Hibino. Despite losing the first set, Zheng applied for a medical timeout and subsequently won two consecutive sets to reverse her opponent with a score of 2-1, successfully advancing to the top 16.
Zheng Qinwen, known as China's No. 1 female tennis player, won the runner-up at the Australian Open and stopped at the round of 16 in the WTA1000 Doha station. At the Dubai station, the sixth-seeded Zheng continued to receive a bye in the first round.
Japanese player Nao Hibino, ranked 90th in the world, successfully advanced from the qualifying rounds. In the first round, she defeated Linette 2-1 and advanced to the second round to face Zheng Qinwen.
In the first set, the game progressed unexpectedly, with Zheng Qinwen in poor form, quickly falling behind 1-4 and 2-5. However, Zheng fought back to level the score at 5-5. Unfortunately, she was broken again and lost the first set 5-7.
During the break between sets, a worrying incident occurred for Chinese fans as Zheng applied for a medical timeout, undergoing auscultation and taking medication. This situation truly made Chinese fans anxious. However, during the medical timeout, many comments from live stream viewers were disheartening.
In the second set, Zheng's state recovered, and she won the set 6-2, bringing the match into the decisive set. This set truly reflected the real strength of both sides.
In the decisive set, Zheng continued to dominate the game, breaking serve consecutively in the third and fifth games to take a clear lead of 5-1. In the seventh game, Nao Hibino held serve to make it 5-2, but Zheng remained in the lead. In the eighth game, Zheng's serve-to-win game, she strongly held serve to win the decisive set 6-2.
From being down 2-5 to leveling at 5-5 and then losing 5-7, from trailing 0-1 to reversing 2-1, Zheng's performance was still like a roller coaster, adding to the tension with a medical timeout, making the audience hold their breath for her.
Zheng's next opponent will be Potapova, who defeated Chinese player Zhu Lin 2-1 in the first round and swept lucky loser Bronzetti 6-0, 6-3 in the second round, thus advancing to the top 16 of the Dubai station.
It is worth noting that if Zheng advances to the quarterfinals, she is very likely to face the world No. 1 Swiatek next.
The second round of the Dubai station saw the biggest upset of the tournament, with Australian Open champion Sabalenka losing. She was defeated by Vikic with scores of 7-6(5), 3-6, 0-6 in the second round, ending her run at the round of 32 after her Australian Open victory.