Qinwen Zheng played her first match since September when she stepped onto court in Qatar on Monday.
Zheng recorded an impressive display against Sofia Kenin – the 2020 Australian Open champion – serving 20 aces on her way to a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.
Before Monday’s victory over Kenin, the Chinese star last played a match at the 2025 China Open, where she lost to Linda Noskova in the round of 32.
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A troubling elbow injury prevented the Olympic champion from competing on the Tour for five months. However, she is now back, and looks every bit the player she was before the injury concern.
Following her victory in Doha, Zheng revealed her stance on women playing five-set tennis at Grand Slam events.
Qinwen Zheng says she is ‘not afraid’ of five-set tennis
Craig Tiley, the Australian Open Tournament Director, sparked a tennis discourse after sharing plans to introduce five-set tennis for the Australian Open Women’s Singles event.
The Australian director admitted that he would be interested in introducing five-set matches from the quarter-final stage after watching the spectacular semi-final matches between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev.
A number of female stars have since weighed in on the potential change, including Danielle Collins.
Qinwen Zheng has now revealed her take on the matter during her post-match press conference in Qatar, claiming five-set tennis would ‘benefit’ her game.
“I’m not afraid of five sets,” Zheng said while highlighting her previous long battles with Coco Gauff.
“I would say I’d benefit from it, and I’ve always wondered the feeling of playing five sets, so maybe one day I’ll have a chance to try.”
Aside from the WTA Finals between 1984 and 1998, WTA stars have contested three-set matches at all events throughout the Open Era.
The last five-set match to be contested on the Tour was the 1998 WTA Finals. Martina Hingis defeated Lindsay Davenport in the final, 7–5, 6–4, 4–6, 6–2.
Qinwen Zheng reveals who she watched while injured
During the same press conference, Zheng discussed her time away from the court, noting the ‘most interesting’ players she had watched.
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When asked if she watched tennis during her recovery, the Chinese star responded: “More than usual. When I was off tennis for six months, I was putting a big screen of Australian Open and another small screen for another match.
“I’ve been following the most interesting players – [Aryna] Sabalenka, [Jannik] Sinner, [Novak] Djokovic, [Carlos] Alcaraz, [Elena] Rybakina. It feels fun sometimes watching tennis from the screen as a fan.”
In the next round, Zheng will face American player Alycia Parks, who defeated 15th seed Diana Shnaider in her first-round match.
If Zheng defeats Parks, she will play Xinyu Wang or Elena Rybakina in the third round.
