China’s rising tennis star Zheng Qinwen secured her spot in the Italian Open women’s singles round of 16 for the third consecutive year, defeating Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday.
In their first-ever meeting on clay, Zheng came out strong, dominating the opening set with a commanding 5-0 lead. Although Frech rallied to narrow the gap to 5-3, Zheng held her nerve to clinch the set 6-3. As she sealed the set, Zheng let out a triumphant roar.
“I’ve lost to quite a few players on clay who just keep lobbing high balls at me,” Zheng said after the match. “It gets on my nerves when they do that, so when I hit a winner, I just need to let it out to pump myself up.”
The second set saw Zheng break early and take a 2-0 lead. Frech fought back to level at 2-2, but Zheng regained control with a crucial break in the fifth game. She powered through the final four games to secure a 6-2 victory.
Zheng’s clever use of drop shots kept her opponent off balance throughout the match. “I noticed my opponent kept moving back, so I wanted to mix up the depth of my shots to disrupt her rhythm,” Zheng explained. “I also saw her footwork wasn’t that quick. On clay, drop shots can be a really effective weapon.”
Looking ahead, Zheng is set to face Canada’s Bianca Andreescu, a former U.S. Open champion, in the next round.
