Zhang Shuai won the third crown of his career.
In the final of the WTA Lyon Open, Zhang Shuai and Ukrainian actress Yastremska stood opposite each other.
In the face of the interference of a live audience in the stands, Zhang Shuai roared "come on" in the direction of the stand after winning the key points of the decisive set, showing his domineering spirit.
With high morale, Zhang Shuai won the championship trophy as she wished, which was the third tour champion of her career and the first time she won the championship on the tour held overseas.
Recently, Zhang Shuai's singles performance has not been satisfactory, but she has not stopped working hard, just like her post-match testimonial, "Although the years are faltering, the ideal is always young." Zhang Shuai, 33, is still chasing dreams.
Zhang Shuai match.
Decisive game confrontation, Zhang Shuai Jedi counterattack
This was the first time in her career that Zhang Shuai had participated in the WTA 250 class of the Lyon Open, but on her debut, she surprised everyone.
In the process of reaching the final, Zhang Shuai marched forward and did not lose a set, but in the final championship competition, Zhang Shuai did encounter a fierce encounter.
Previously, Zhang Shuai and Jastremska had met twice, and the two sides had a win and a tie, but this time, Yastremska was the first to take the lead.
In the first set, Jastremska played well, scoring 13 winning points while producing only 3 unforced errors to win the first set 6-3. But Zhang Shuai was not overwhelmed by the momentum of the other party, and the second set immediately broke consecutively to 6-3 in color.
In the decisive set, Zhang Shuai once encountered a 2-4 backward situation, but in a desperate situation, Zhang Shuai broke out with amazing energy, and a wave of 4 consecutive sets was won to complete the reversal, and then came up to lock up the victory 6-4.
"The quality of the final was very high and I'm very proud to have won the game." Zhang Shuai sighed after the game.
For the "post-00s" golfer Yastremska, who is opposite to the net, Zhang Shuai also sent praise: "In the past three or four years, I have seen that she has made great progress, won a lot of games, and her ball is also very powerful. ”
Zhang Shuai kissed the trophy.
Faced with unfavorable factors, she responded domineeringly
According to the WTA's official website, Yastremska took refuge with her family in an underground garage in Ukraine a week before she came to Lyon, and eventually she was able to leave Ukraine and get a wild card issued by the competition.
Jastremska, who appeared on the field, was also supported by the local audience. In this final, there were also some discordant interludes.
During the game, the referees repeatedly disputed the penalty, but the event was not equipped with Eagle Eye equipment to challenge. In the eighth set of the crucial decider, the controversial penalty appeared again, and in the process of communicating between Zhang Shuai and the referee, there was booing on the scene, and then when Zhang Shuai served, he also encountered the sound interference of the stands.
But Zhang Shuai responded with his performance on the court, and after winning the key points in the eighth set, Zhang Shuai pointed to the direction of the stands and roared "come on", and finally won the round smoothly to make the score 4-4 draw, and finally won the whole game with a bang.
For Zhang Shuai, this is a milestone battle in his career. This is the third women's singles champion on the tour in her career, and she has become the third most women's singles champion on the tour after Li Na and Zheng Jie.
This is also the second time in five years that she has won the Tour Women's Singles Championship, and this title is also the first time she has won the women's singles title in an overseas event (the previous two titles came from the 2013 and 2017 Guangzhou Opens).
Zhang Shuai continued to pursue his dreams.
Zhang Shuai, 33 years old, still chases dreams
After holding up the heavy championship trophy, Zhang Shuai posted a lyric on social media: "Like a trapped beast longing for freedom, there is no exit but to roar hard, cover your eyes and see the ugliness, all this is just fighting with yourself..."
For her, who has already suffered two consecutive defeats in the Tour finals, the singles championship trophy has indeed waited too long.
Although in the US Open last year, Zhang Shuai's partner Stosur won the championship in one fell swoop and won the Grand Slam for the second time in his career, in the singles arena, Zhang Shuai's recent performance was actually not bright for a long time.
After entering 2022, Zhang Shuai suffered a singles round of travel in the two competitions of the opening year, and after the Australian Open stopped in the round of 32, Zhang Shuai continued his slump, a round of st. petersburg and Qatar, a round of dubai qualifiers...
At the time of participating in the Lyon Open, Zhang Shuai's world ranking was only 64, and he could sweep away the haze from the downturn and stand on the championship podium, which could only be described by the word surprise. After winning the trophy, Zhang Shuai broke the singles championship drought of nearly five years, and the world ranking was instantly improved by 23 places to 41st.
She once said that although she "did not succeed every time, but every time she worked hard towards her goal and moved forward", this time, her efforts paid off.
"Although the years are faltering, the ideal is always young!" This is Zhang Shuai's testimonial after the game.
Zhang Shuai, 33, still shows her ambitions to the world. After years of ups and downs, the veteran is still firmly on the road of chasing his dreams.