Zhang Shuai may have a fairytale Beijing run in the making after the world No. 595 upset sixth-seeded Emma Navarro to reach the China Open round-of-16, just a day after winning her first WTA match in 603 days.
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Going into this week's WTA 1000 tournament, the Chinese had been without a win since 2023 January and had lost her last 24 matches. But playing as a wildcard, the former world No. 22 managed to beat McCartney Kessler 7-6 (5) 7-6 (1) and avoid setting a new record for the most consecutive losses on the Tour. Previously, Madeleine Pegel lost 29 matches in a row in the early days of the Open Era.
And after making sure she would not break one of the worst tennis records, Zhang - whose 24 consecutive losses were still the second most in Tour history - proceeded to upset 2024 US Open semifinalist Navarro 6-4 6-2 in their first meeting.
On paper, it may seem like the 35-year-old routinely beat the American tennis star. But the truth is that the world No. 8 also had her chances but just didn't convert.
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Next up for the Chinese will be world No. 94 Greetje Minnen, who hasn't had much success this season and it definitely seems like a good matchup for the home player to continue her run. When they clash in the Beijing last-16, it will be their first meeting.
How Zhang upset Navarro?
The match started as expected since the No. 6 seed earned an early break and opened a 2-0 lead. But after making a very slow start, the Chinese underdog impressively responded with back-to-back breaks and won the next four games to overturn the deficit and go 4-2 up.
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However, the American was also able to quickly respond, getting back on even terms in the eighth game to tie the opener to four games apiece. But then, Navarro blew it all after dropping her serve once again in the following game as Zhang made no mistakes on her serve this time and sealed the first set after converting her first set point on her serve.
Down by a set, this year's US Open semifinalist had a golden chance to open an early lead in the second set - but failed to realize any of her three consecutive break points in the fourth game. After the wildcard survived that game, the sixth seed's game fell apart as the Chinese collected breaks in the fifth and seventh games en route to capping off the match on a five-game winning run.
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Take a look at Zheng's message that now makes so much sense
While the former world No. 22 has never won Beijing, it has still been a very special tournament for her. Exactly 15 years ago, her maiden WTA Tour win came in China's capital. And the following day, the home player shocked former world No. 1 Dinara Safina on her way to making the last-16.
After her run of 24 losses came to an end at the China Open, the 35-year-old suggested there was simply something special in playing this tournament.
"I think that this is the perfect timing. My first win at a WTA tournament was 15 years ago at China Open, and then the next day I beat the No.1 player]. Maybe God has a plan," Zhang told WTA Insider.
Shortly after reaching the Australian Open round-of-16 last year, the two-time WTA champion hit a losing streak in early February and she lost 16 matches in a row until August. After calling it a season prematurely and returning to action in February, her struggles continued as she also lost her first eight matches of this season.
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"Nobody cared how many matches I lost because everybody said you play so well. When I came back I played Daria Saville at Miami. After the match, she said you're still at the top, even better than before when you were ranked in the Top 30. So keep playing, the win will come. I have a lot of motivational feelings from my friends because I feel everybody is my friend. I don't feel they are my opponents. If you play good, I am happy for you. But you also show me how much I can improve. We inspire each other. That is the big family in the WTA Tour. I like it. That's why I continue to keep playing," the former world No. 22 said.
It will be interesting to see if Zhang can now also beat Minnen and reach the Beijing quarterfinal for the third time in her career.
