Wuhan, 9 Oct (Xinhua) -- On the evening of 9 October, Zheng Qinwen, the No. 5 seed with a first-round bye, blasted nine aces (the serve was scored directly and the opponent did not touch the ball) in the second round of the Wuhan Open Tennis Tournament, defeating wild card player and Romania's Christian in straight sets to advance to the round of 16.
In the first half of the first set, the two sides played back and forth, each holding serve. Subsequently, Zheng Qinwen broke the tie and expanded the score to 5:2. In the eighth game, Zheng Qinwen won the set point with an ace.
In the second set, after each side held serve for one game, Zheng Qinwen tied the score four times on Christian's serve, but the latter still held serve tenaciously. In the fourth game, after Christian scored two points in a row, Zheng Qinwen lost another point with a double fault on serve, and then was broken by his opponent. Zheng Qinwen held serve after breaking back, and beat Christian to the ground in the seventh game. After that, Zheng Qinwen took advantage of the victory to chase down, hit 2 aces to quickly win the eighth game, and finally won the game 6:4.
"When I first came into the game, I was in average form, but the more I played, the better I became. The opponent played well, we had back and forth, and her performance was remarkable. I'm very happy to have my first win at the Wuhan Open this year. Zheng Qinwen said after the game.
That night, the 15,000-seat center court of the Optics Valley International Tennis Center was almost full, and the audience shouted Zheng Qinwen's name many times to cheer for her. "It's definitely a good thing that the crowd cheers me on. For me now, [cheering] is definitely a motivation because when you're playing in front of a crowd, the more people you have, the more exciting you get. Thank you to the crowd who cheered me on, and I hope you enjoy the tournament. Zheng Qinwen said.
After the Paris Olympics, Zheng Qinwen flew to United States the next day to prepare for the US Open, and rushed back to China non-stop after the North American season to play in the Chinese season, with a dense schedule. In response, she humorously responded in her post-match press conference: "Sometimes, I feel a little mentally tired because when you play a lot of games in a row, there is pressure in every game and you have to deal with it. But I feel okay now, like you said, 'I have to go to work when I don't want to'. But because it's my hometown, I'm still happy. Maybe I don't want to go to this class anymore. ”
In the next round, Zheng Qinwen will face Canada's Fernandez on the afternoon of the 10th.