Zheng Qinwen’s Finals Hopes Dashed: Can She Break the Curse Against Sabalenka
Original title: Zheng Qinwen missed the start of the finals and lost five games in a row against Sabalenka
China News Service, November 3rd. In the first match of the purple group of the WTA year-end finals in Riyadh that ended in the early morning of the 3rd, Beijing time, Chinese player Zheng Qinwen, who entered the year-end finals for the first time, lost to the top seed Sasha 3:6, 4:6. Barenka, no chance of a good start. In the five meetings between the two so far, Sabalenka has won all of them.
This year-end finals will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from November 2 to 9. A total of 8 players participated in the women’s singles competition in the finals. They were divided into two groups for a round-robin match, and the top two in each group advanced to the semi-finals. After a cross-over single-elimination round in the semi-finals, the two winners will compete for the final championship.
With his outstanding performance this season, 22-year-old Zheng Qinwen reached the finals for the first time in his career. She also became the second Chinese singles player to be shortlisted for the WTA year-end finals after Li Na.
Before the game, Zheng Qinwen said frankly that although she also wanted to achieve good results in Riyadh, she did not want to put too much pressure on herself. “This is my first WTA year-end finals. I am full of motivation and looking forward to it.”
This time Zheng Qinwen is in the same group as Sabalenka, Paolini and Rybakina. These three people are ranked first, fourth and fifth in the world respectively.
Zheng Qinwen’s first opponent is Sabalenka, the favorite to win the championship. The two have played against each other 4 times in the past, but Zheng Qinwen has never defeated his opponent. In the past two US Opens, Zheng Qinwen was eliminated by Sabalenka. In this year’s Australian Open final, the two met again, and Zheng Qinwen finally won the runner-up. In the recent Wuhan Tennis Open final, Zheng Qinwen lost again to Sabalenka.
Meeting for the fourth time this season, the two players were on full fire at the beginning of the game, with many exciting rounds. The turning point of the first set occurred in the 6th game, when Sabalenka broke serve first and took the lead. It was with this key break that Sabalenka took the lead at 6:3.
The second set was even more tense, and Zheng Qinwen also played more proactively. After each guaranteed serve, the score reached 4:4. In the crucial 9th game, Sabalenka once again forced a break point and successfully cashed in. After winning the serve, Sabalenka finally won the game.
After the game, Zheng Qinwen said frankly that he was not able to perform at 100% in the game and there was still a lot of room for improvement. It was a pity that she missed the break point due to a wrong backhand return.
If he wants to strive to qualify, Zheng Qinwen must try his best to win the next match against Paolini and Lebakina.