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%.…

On January 14, 2025, the first round of the Australian Open concluded with a total record of 4 wins and 7 losses for Chinese players. Zheng Qinwen, Wang Yafan, Wang Xiyu, and Zhang Shuai advanced to challenge the top 32. There was a major upset in the men's singles competition as 10th seed Dimitrov withdrew due to injury, followed by 9th seed Rublev losing 0-3 to qualifier Fonseca, which was far from expectations. In the men's singles, there was an upset as the qualifier defeated the 9th seed 3-0. Russian star Rublev lost 6-7(1)/3-6/6-7(5) to Brazilian player Fonseca, which was unexpected and considered the biggest upset since the start of this year's Australian Open. Rublev usually performs well in Grand Slams, often reaching at least the quarterfinals, while his opponent is only 18 years old and relatively inexperienced. Many fans mentioned that Rublev's performance was poor and he did not live up to the level expected of a top ten seed. However, Fonseca's excellent performance must be acknowledged. The 18-year-old Brazilian made a name for himself in this match, and it will be interesting to see if he can continue to progress. Five seeded players were eliminated, including men's 30th seed Pericard losing 2-3 to French player Monfils, 32nd seed Kobil losing 1-3 to Argentine player Echeverri, women's 26th seed Alexandrova losing 0-2 to British player Raducanu, 31st seed Sakkari losing 1-2 to Colombian player Osorio, and 13th seed Kalinskaya withdrawing, with lucky loser Li substituting. Four Chinese players advanced to the second round: Zheng Qinwen won 2-0 against Todoni,…

2-0! Australian Open Women's Singles Top 64 Revealed: 6 Seeds Out, 3 Gold Flowers Face Tough Opponents, Zheng Qinwen Aims for Second Consecutive Victory Beijing time on January 14th, the third day of the Australian Open, the first round of women's singles matches has finally been completed. Among them, No. 22 seed Bolt eventually won 2-1 against Marino and advanced to the second round. However, No. 31 seed Sakkari was unfortunately defeated 1-2 by Osorio and was eliminated in a cold upset.‌ The last match of the first round of women's singles was between Kudmetova and Gadecki, with no suspense in the result. In the first set, both sides held their serve in the first two games, but then the match was completely controlled by Kudmetova. She won five consecutive games and eventually took the set 6-1, leading 1-0 in the total score.‌ In the second set, there was also no suspense. Gadecki, who had already lost all confidence, quickly fell behind 0-4. Although she managed to break serve and win one game later, she still could not change her fate. Kudmetova then won another two games, taking the set 6-1 again and sweeping her opponent 2-0 to advance smoothly.‌ After Kudmetova's 2-0 victory and advancement, she also boarded the last train to the top 64 of this year's Australian Open women's singles. So far, the top 64 of the Australian Open women's singles have all been determined. In the first round, favorites such as Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Paolini, Zheng Qinwen, and Rybakina all won. However, as many as six…

On October 22, 2024, Beijing time, in the first round of the WTA250 Guangzhou Women's Tennis Open singles competition that just concluded, China's 36-year-old veteran Zhang Shuai performed outstandingly, defeating the No. 8 seed Russian powerhouse Lashimova with a total score of 2-0 (6-2/6-1) to advance to the top 16. She gained 30 world ranking points, her world ranking soared to 213rd, and she successfully secured her place in the qualifying round of the Australian Open. In the next round, she will compete with American player Pera for a spot in the women's singles quarter-finals. Let's take a look at the detailed match statistics: Zhang Shuai is currently ranked 237th in the world, while Lashimova is ranked 61st in the world and is also the No. 8 seed of this tournament. This was their first career meeting, and the outcome was unpredictable. First set: The game started with both sides holding serve, with the score tied at 2-2. Zhang Shuai then began to exert herself, with sharp attacks and active movement, eventually winning four consecutive games to take the first set 6-2. Second set: The first two games saw both players hold serve to tie at 1-1. Zhang Shuai then took control of the match rhythm, leaving her opponent powerless. With her powerful offensive firepower, Zhang Shuai won five consecutive games and ended the set by winning nine consecutive points, ultimately sweeping her opponent 6-1 to advance. The entire match lasted only 58 minutes. Zhang Shuai served 4 aces, with a first serve success rate of 61% and a first…

On January 1st, two quarterfinal matches concluded in the 2025 United Cup Tennis Mixed Team Tournament. The Chinese team lost 0-2 to the American team, while Kazakhstan defeated the defending champions, Germany, 2-0. As a result, two of the top four spots have been secured, with Kazakhstan and the United States set to face each other in the semifinals. This year's United Cup saw China fielding a team composed of Zhang Zhizhen, Zhang Shuai, Sun Fajing, Gao Xinwei, and Bai Yan. Due to Zheng Qinwen's withdrawal from the competition, Gao Xinwei stepped in as a replacement. In the group stage, China achieved a 3-0 victory over Brazil before falling 1-2 to the reigning champions, Germany. Despite this setback, China managed to secure one of the best second-place finishes in their group, allowing them to reach the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. Facing a formidable American team led by Gauff, who had won both of their group stage matches, China made a last-minute change to their lineup, with Zhang Shuai taking on the women's singles. In the first set, Zhang Shuai broke serve three times, only to see Gauff break back each time. The match went into a tiebreak, which Zhang Shuai ultimately lost 4-7. In the second set, Zhang Shuai struggled with multiple breaks of serve, losing 2-6, giving the Americans a 1-0 lead. In the men's singles match, Zhang Zhizhen faced off against Fritz. Zhang Zhizhen lost the first set 4-6 and, despite putting up a valiant fight in the second set, was unable to overcome the deficit,…

In a quarterfinal match of the 2025 United Cup mixed team tennis tournament, Team China faced off against Team USA. In the first women's singles match, Zhang Shuai and Coco Gauff went into a tiebreak, with Zhang ultimately losing the first set 4-7 in a very intense match. In the second set, Gauff won again with a score of 6-2 over Zhang, helping Team USA take a 1-0 lead overall. Last year at the United Cup, Zheng Qinwen led Team China to the quarterfinals but unfortunately lost to Poland, missing out on advancing to the semifinals. This year, Zheng withdrew from the competition at the last minute and was replaced by Gao Xinyu, ranked 175th in the world. Despite being a late addition, Gao performed exceptionally well, winning all her matches against Brazil and Germany, securing valuable 2 points for Team China and earning a total of 870,000 yuan in prize money. In the quarterfinals, Team China made a last-minute change to their lineup, replacing Gao Xinyu with veteran Zhang Shuai. Zhang, with more experience and ability than Gao, faced off against Gauff, the number one women's singles player for Team USA and ranked third in the world. Gauff had defeated Zheng two months prior to win the 2024 Year-End Finals championship and now helped Team USA advance to the quarterfinals as group leaders. The first set was extremely competitive, with Zhang playing exceptionally well despite being significantly lower in ranking and skill compared to Gauff. Zhang broke Gauff's serve in the first game, only to have Gauff break back…