At the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen was out, while Wang Xinyu continued her good form.
Wang Xinyu Keeps Rolling
Chinese women’s singles tennis player Wang Xinyu continued her good form from the Berlin Open, where she reached her first WTA Tour final by defeating four top-20 players in a row.
Wang Xinyu at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London. (All photos from Xinhua)
After a straight-set victory in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships on July 1st in London, Wang reached the women’s singles second round at Wimbledon. She will take on Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey in the second round on July 3.
The 23-year-old said, “My opponent’s slicing and net play are among her strengths, and at times I had to raise my level to deal with her. I played aggressively throughout, and my serves were relatively smooth.”
Having previously practiced with Sonmez on grass, Wang, who is currently world No.32 in the WTA rankings, said that she will give it her all in the second round and bring everyone another exciting match.
Wang’s breakthrough performance in Germany’s capital has been one of the standout stories of the grass-court season. After navigating two rounds of qualifying, she ousted World No. 16 Daria Kasatkina of Australia in the first round, before stunning the USA’s newly-crowned French Open champion and World No. 2 Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-3 for her first career victory against a top-two player.
Zheng Qinwen Learns Lessons
Meanwhile, fifth seed Zheng Qinwen was upset by Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. It was her third consecutive first-round exit at the grass-court Grand Slam.
Zheng Qinwen at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London.
Zheng admitted she was not focused enough. The loss marks the fourth time in her past six Grand Slam appearances that Zheng has failed to at least reach the round of 16, a barren slide interrupted by quarterfinal runs at last year’s US Open and this season’s French Open.
“I should do better in my service games… It’s a pity,” Zheng said. “On grass, you don’t get too many chances to come back. I should have taken my chances better, but I’m not going to let this enter my mind. It’s just one match I lost at Wimbledon.”
Despite the defeat, the Olympic champion said she gained valuable experience and is now even more determined to keep improving on grass.
Wimbledon’s official Sina Weibo account also posted messages in support of Zheng. “Not all flowers have to bloom in the same season. See you next summer. Looking forward to seeing a stronger you return to the grass court next year,” read one post.
Written by Sha Liu, additional reporting by CGTN and Global Times.
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