Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen returned to competitive tennis at the China Open on Saturday with a straight-sets victory in what was her first match on the Tour since Wimbledon.
The world No.9 disposed of Colombia’s Emiliana Arango 6-3, 6-2, despite admitting she is yet to return to full fitness. Zheng has been absent from the sport in recent weeks after undergoing surgery to treat a right elbow injury that has been troubling her. Prior to playing in her home event, her last competitive match was on July 1st when she lost in the first round at Wimbledon.
“That’s a good number because I was born on the 8th of October,” the 22-year-old replied when informed by reporters she has been sidelined for 88 days.
“The things I missed the most were to compete with other players because during those days, I could only see them on TV. I was sometimes lying on my bed because I had just finished the surgery.
“I’m really happy to come back and compete again. Of course, I miss all the fans who are cheering for me. At the same time, I missed the adrenaline, the pressure to be back on court.”
Taking on world No.50 Arango, Zheng impressively won 12 out of 14 points behind her second serve and also had a 66% success rate behind her first. Furthermore, she converted five out of her six break point opportunities.
Giving an update on her current fitness, Zheng estimates she is between 70% and 80% recovered from her surgery. Initially, her plan wasn’t to play at the China Open as she was unsure she would be ready in time.
“On the baseline, I’m really happy. With some small errors, I can get more points from the baseline. Approaching the net was pretty good,” she explained.
“But my serve wasn’t really reaching the speed I want. The average is about 175. If I recover more, I can increase my speed. I think that’s the rest of the 20% I’m working on.”
Seeded seventh in the draw, Zheng will next take on Linda Niskova. A player who has recorded nine wins over top 10 players so far in her career with three of those victories being in 2025 against Paula Badosa, Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva.
“She is a tough player. As far as I know, she is really quick,” Zheng said of her next opponent.
“It really depends on how much I can recover. I look forward to a better performance. We’ll see what happens.”
