Zhang Shuai: There is nothing to lose against Mertens, and strive to go all out

Zhang Shuai

On January 20, Beijing time, China's Jinhua Zhang Shuai entered the third round of the Australian Open women's singles after two years, and will compete with the 19th seed Mertens for the top 16 place.

In a post-match interview, Zhang Shuai said that the Australian Open was able to achieve the current results, which is deeply related to the frequent participation in the second half of last year: "My singles results in the first half of last year were not very good because I had an injury to my arm. But I've always loved the sport, I've played a lot of events in the second half of the year, I try to have myself a game every week, I've been going between Europe and the Americas a lot, the schedule is very tight, which has also made me stronger, won more games, got more points, and was directly shortlisted for the Australian Open by ranking. ”

"Winning Cincinnati and the US Open with Stosur last year was a very pleasant surprise, it made us feel more confident and my doubles ranking was back in the top ten in the world. After The Indian Wells race, I played a couple of ITF tournaments, which allowed me to get some points and play in the Australian Open. After the season, I returned to Florida for a few days, spent Christmas with my family and friends, and then came to Melbourne, where there was almost no offseason. ”

Speaking about the third round opponent Belgian Meertens, Zhang Shuai said: "Mertens and I know each other very well, because we have exchanged hands several times, trained together many times, and also partnered in doubles together. She has always been good in Australia, having previously reached the final four of the Australian Open and won the Hobart twice. It's a game for me that has nothing to lose, and all I can do is give it my all. ”

"I didn't even look at the draws before winning the second round because I tried to focus on myself. I've been working on the tour for so many years and I don't care who the opponent is because every player is very good and there are a lot of young, high-level players now. My first-round opponent was Grubich, who has been doing very well over the last few months and her level of cutting is high, which I'm not used to. I wondered if I should focus on doubles, which is why I didn't look at the signature sheets later. ”

It is worth mentioning that Zhang Shuai's good friend and doubles partner Stosur completed the last singles match of his career today, and Zhang Shuai expressed his hope that he and Stosur would continue to win more doubles titles in the future.

"Last year at the US Open she told me that she might choose to retire after last season or after this year's Australian Open. I told her to keep playing and we had to win more games, which was a big motivating force for me. If we win the US Open, we will be able to make it to the WTA Year-End Finals. Then after we reached the quarterfinals or the quarterfinals of the US Open, she said to me, 'I'm back in the top 100, and we can play another year.'" She said in 2019 that the 2020 Australian Open may be her last Australian Open. After 2020, because of the Olympic Games, we didn't have a partner for a year and a half, and last year we were very lucky to be able to partner in Cincinnati, and then won the Cincinnati and US Open titles. She's had several times in the years when she wanted to retire, but we always won big tournaments at those times, so I hope to partner her to win more titles this year so that Stosur can keep playing. ”

(Text, Editor/Faye Wong, Photo/Visual China)