Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen has handed Elena Rybakina her second defeat in three days at the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia.
The seventh seed held her nerve to oust Rybakina 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-1, in what was a roller coaster match. Zheng, who lost her opening match to Aryna Sabalenka on Sunday, is making her debut at the season-ending event. She is the second Chinese woman to win a singles match at the tournament after Li Na, who made three appearances between 2011 and 2013.
It is the first time Zheng has beaten Rybakina on the Tour after losing to her twice in straight sets. In her latest match, she hit 25 winners against 40 unforced errors and won 66% of her service points. However, the victory was far from straightforward.
“I’m really happy to win this match because I have never beaten her before,” Zheng said afterwards.
“She’s one of the greatest players right now on tour. Huge server and she has a great groundstroke.
“I’m just happy today. I gave all my best. I had a lot of chances in the second set.
I didn’t take it, but I’m able to come back in the third set and stay focused.”
The world No.7 started off guns blazing by storming to a 4-1 lead before getting pegged back. Then in the tiebreaker, she snatched the opener by breaking the Rybakina serve three times. During the middle set, Zheng had a break advantage before losing four games in a row which enabled her opponent to draw level.
Despite the mixed performance, Zheng elevated her game in the decider and stormed to a 5-1 lead in just under 40 minutes. Serving for the win, she closed out the match on her first opportunity by hitting a serve down the center of the court which Rybakina returned into the net.
“I think staying really focused in your service game because both of us were destroying our serve and it’s really tough to return,” Zheng replied when asked what was the key to her win.
During her on-court interview, Zheng also spoke in her native language to her fans in the crowd. When asked to repeat what she said in English, she revealed it was an apology.
“I apologize for one moment. My emotions were not there because I was totally out of control,” she said.
“The heart rate was so up. So I said (to the crowd) sorry that I shouted at you a little bit hard for once, and I want to say thanks for continue supporting me.”
As a result of Zheng’s victory, Rybakina faces an anxious wait to see how Sabalenka performs in her match against Jasmine Paolini later today. If Sabalenka wins, the Kazakh will be out of contention to reach the semi-final stage no matter how she performs in her final group match later this week.
