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Stephy Zhang

Zheng Qinwen fired 13 aces to ease into the quarter-finals of the Athens Open, reaching her first tour-level quarter-final in a year, while expressing her desire to become a more well-rounded player.
The Paris Olympics champion cruised past Australia’s Elena Micic 6-4, 6-1 in the second round of the WTA 250 event in the early hours of Thursday, lifting her up the WTA rankings to No 121.
Zheng, who needs to win the tournament in Greece to qualify for the main draw of the coming US Open, will face either Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, the world No 32, or France’s 204th-ranked Carole Monnet on Friday for a place in the semi-finals.
The match proved far less challenging than Zheng’s opening round win against Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, with the 22-year-old Micic registering only one main-draw win on the WTA tour and ranked outside the top 250.
The Chinese star secured an early break in the opening set. Both players then held serve until the end of the set, which Zheng won 6-4 on the strength of that single break.

Zheng broke again at the start of the second set, which quickly turned into a one-sided affair as she held and broke repeatedly to sweep the set 6-1.
The 23-year-old’s 13 aces left her opponent with few answers, while the Hubei native also dominated the return games and baseline rallies.
Following a recent slump that saw her plunge 131 places from her career-high world No 4 in June last year, this win marks Zheng’s first foray into a tour-level quarter-final since last year’s Queen’s Club.
“I started the match really well, but after, I think, I lost a bit [of] focus in the first set, and I’m happy that I was able to keep it close [in] the first set with my service game,” a smiling Zheng said, noting that her adjustments during the tight moments paved the way for the win.
“And in the second set, I tried to tell myself to play every single point with a huge focus, and not let myself drop down. So, I’m happy that I did it.”
She expressed a desire to keep improving and turn every aspect of her game into a scoring weapon.
“I try to complete myself as a player. I wish all my strokes could be a weapon; I don’t want to just focus on only one. So, I have to say all my shots are my weapons, so it doesn’t matter, I will just try to improve all my strokes, and let’s see what’s gonna happen.”


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Zheng Qinwen will face either Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, the world No 32, or France’s 204th-ranked Carole Monnet on Friday. Photo: AP

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Zheng Qinwen of China, here at Wimbledon, is competing in her 11th tournament of the season at the Athens Open. Photo: Xinhua

Fans are happy to see China’s Zheng Qinwen, here at Bad Homburg, enjoy a win on the tour. Photo: AP

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Sport

Tennis

Hubei native, who says she is happy with her improved form, needs to win tournament for chance of entry into main draw of US Open next month


Hubei native, who says she is happy with her improved form, needs to win tournament for chance of entry into main draw of US Open next month.


Zheng Qinwen

Chinese star Zheng Qinwen claims first WTA Tour quarter-final spot in a year at Athens Open

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hubei native, who says she is happy with her improved form, needs to win tournament for chance of entry into main draw of US Open next month

Hubei native, who says she is happy with her improved form, needs to win tournament for chance of entry into main draw of US Open next month