Global EditionASIA 中文双语Français
Sports
Home / Sports / Tennis

Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai starts grass-court season with qualifying win

Xinhua | Updated: 2025-06-08 14:54
Share
Share - WeChat
Chinese tennis player Zhang Shuai. [Photo/Xinhua]

LONDON -- China's two-time Grand Slam doubles champion Zhang Shuai started her grass-court season with a win in the HSBC Championships qualifiers here on Saturday.

It marks the first time in over 50 years that the women's tournament is held at the Queen's Club. Zhang prevailed 6-3, 6-2 over British wild card player Brooke Black in the qualifying first round.

"I was surprised that I could perform quite well today," said 36-year-old Zhang, who only practiced two hours on the grass on Friday. "I think it's the shortest preparation I have ever made in my career while facing the change of the surface."

"I have never thought I could be ready, but I'm glad I didn't feel awkward at all during the match," added the veteran, who just ended her clay season with a semifinal finish in the mixed doubles event at the French Open on Wednesday.

Zhang admitted the tight schedule was mainly because her singles ranking was not high enough to secure a main draw berth in many tournaments, but she still wanted to give it a try rather than focus on the doubles.

Zhang will need another win to qualify for the main draw at the HSBC Championships.

"I'm proud of myself as I'm fighting my way back. One year ago, I was out of Top 600 in the world rankings and suffering a horrible losing streak in the singles event," said Zhang, currently ranked 134th.

"To be honest, I was thinking maybe I should give up the singles or even retire at that time, but I'm glad that I keep going on the toughest path."

Chinese star Zheng Qinwen enters as the top seed with a No 7 world ranking. The 22-year-old Olympic champion has received a first-round bye and will play against either Britain's Francesca Jones or McCartney Kessler of the United States in the second round.

Most Popular

Highlights

What's Hot
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US