Qinwen Zheng continued her run at the Qatar Open on Tuesday, defeating Alycia Parks in three sets.
Zheng, who recently expressed her thoughts on five-set tennis, beat American player Alycia Parks 7-6, 3-6, 6-2.
After a long period of absence due to an elbow injury, the Chinese star has picked up where she left off and could make a deep run at the tournament.
However, Zheng now faces the most in-form player on the Tour: Elena Rybakina.
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Rybakina, who recently won her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, lost her last match against Zheng at the 2024 WTA Finals.
Ahead of the contest in Qatar, Zheng updated tennis fans on the status of her elbow injury.
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“Not bad,” Zheng said of her condition during the post-match press conference. “I feel the same as yesterday when I finished.
“The elbow didn’t get worse, so I think it’s good news. Because after such a long match, especially two times [playing] three sets, my elbow can stay really healthy and I’m pretty happy about that.”
The Chinese player also previewed her contest against Rybakina, who has been tipped to achieve world number one status in the near future.
“It’s going to be a very difficult match, because she has her confidence and I’m just starting to build my game up,” Zheng said.
“But I will fight through every point and let’s see what happens in the next round.”
The winner of Zheng and Rybakina will face eithr Victoria Mboko or Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals. Mboko defeated Vera Zvonareva on Tuesday, while Andreeva defeated Magda Linette on Monday.
The winner of the quarter-final contest will face either Jelena Ostapenko, Ann Li, Elisabetta Cocciaretto or Camila Osorio; who recently defeated Alexandra Eala on her way to the Philippine Women’s Open title.
- Round of 16: Elena Rybakina
- Quarter-finals: Victoria Mboko / Mirra Andreeva
- Semi-finals: Jelena Ostapenko / Ann Li / Elisabetta Cocciaretto / Camila Osorio
- Final: Iga Swiatek / Elina Svitolina / Karolina Muchova
Zheng’s record against Rybakina
Zheng has a 1-2 record against the Kazakhstani player, dating back to the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
Rybakina, who went on to win her maiden Grand Slam title at the event, defeated Zheng 7-6, 7-5 in the third round.
A year later, the pair met again – this time at the China Open. Rybakina again prevailed, comfortably defeating the Chinese star 6-1, 6-2 in the round of 64.
As mentioned previously, Zheng avenged these losses by defeating Rybakina at the 2024 WTA Finals. In the group phase, Zheng beat Rybakina 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.
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After the contest in 2024, Zheng said: “I was the one to make the first break, and then I let her back in the first.
“Then it happened again in second. But in the third set I talked to myself. I broke her first and I stayed focused.
“Finally in the third set I start to play my tennis again. So I’m really happy to win the match.”
