Rising star shakes off setbacks, hails WTA's China return as additional boost

With her body healthy again and home tournaments resuming, China's top women's ace Zheng Qinwen is preparing for her latest shot at world No 1 Iga Swiatek with renewed confidence and vigor.

After overcoming some niggling injuries and benefiting from a recent switch back to her old racket, Zheng is finally recovering her aggressiveness and consistency on the court.

On Tuesday, Zheng powered to a straight-sets win over Alycia Parks in the first round of a WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart, Germany to set up a third clash against Swiatek in less than a year. Zheng lost both those previous encounters to Swiatek and hopes it's a case of third time lucky.

"I think that gave me a lot of experience," Zheng said of her matches against Swiatek after beating Parks, 6-4, 6-4, in her debut at the clay-court Stuttgart tournament to avenge a loss to the American on grass in June last year.

"First time when I met her, she was No 1 in the world, I was coming from nowhere. First time for me to play in that atmosphere.

"I think now I will get a little bit more experience. I hope in the next match I can have a good performance. I want to show my best tennis."

As the WTA Tour's Newcomer of the Year in 2022, Zheng captured the world's attention by taking a set from Swiatek in each of their encounters last year.

She pushed the Polish star to her limits on both occasions, even though the 20-year-old was dealing with health issues — stomach cramps in Paris and a twisted ankle in San Diego.

After recovering from discomfort in her wrist and stomach that affected her early-season form, Zheng said she's feeling 100 percent again.

"It seems like this time I'm good with everything. Let's go for it," said Zheng, whose match against Swiatek is expected to take place on Thursday night Beijing time.

A switch back to her old racket — after an experiment with a heavier one failed — is also helping to restore her confidence.

"At the Australian Open I tried the new racket to increase my power but it didn't work quite well, making it difficult for me to control the ball," Zheng explained. "So I switched it back and it really felt better."

With a fourth-round run in Paris in May, followed by back-to-back third-round appearances at Wimbledon and the US Open before reaching her maiden WTA Tour final in Tokyo, Zheng completed a strong upswing on the women's circuit in her first full WTA season last year. She broke into the world's top 25 in October to become the first Chinese teenager to do so.

Swiatek has just recovered from a rib injury that forced her to withdraw from the Miami Open, so was approaching her match against Zheng with caution.

"I have still been working out physically a little bit and obviously coming back to practicing step by step. Here I am and I think I'm ready," the three-time Grand Slam champion, 21, said on Tuesday.

"It's my first tournament on clay (this season), so for sure I would love to play well, but I also know that I might be a little bit rusty because coming back from injury it's always a little bit like that."

WTA return welcomed

After a four-year China hiatus, mainly due to the pandemic, the WTA announced last week that it will resume tournaments in the world's most populous country this fall.

Seven WTA tournaments, including the 500 Wuhan and 1000 Beijing events and the year-end Finals in Shenzhen, are set to return, according to WTA CEO Steve Simon.

Zheng, a native of Hubei province, is stoked by the news.

"I'm so happy the tournaments in China will finally be back because I'm really excited to play in front of my people," she said.

"I really miss China... since the tournaments have started, I will now have more time to go back to my hometown and meet all my family again and show my tennis over there."

Zheng has previously only played WTA qualifying matches at tourneys in China — in her native province's Wuhan Open and the Tianjin Open in 2019.

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