On Sunday at the Foro Italico in Rome, the Chinese mainland’s Zheng Qinwen produced a commanding display to defeat Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-3, 6-2 and book her spot in the Italian Open round of 16 for the third straight year.
Zheng wasted no time, racing to a 5-0 lead in the first set. Frech fought back, holding serve and breaking once to narrow the gap to 5-3, but Zheng held firm to close out the set 6-3. After clinching those opening games, Zheng let out a roar that echoed through the stands.
“I’ve lost to quite a few players on clay who just keep lobbing high balls at me,” Zheng explained. “It gets on my nerves when they do that, so when I hit a winner, I just need to let it out to pump myself up.”
In the second set, Zheng grabbed an early break and took a 2-0 lead. Frech leveled at 2-2, but Zheng broke again in the fifth game and surged ahead, winning the final four games to seal a 6-2 victory. Her drop shots were particularly effective, mixing up depth and disrupting her opponent’s rhythm.
“I noticed my opponent kept moving back, so I wanted to mix up the depth of my shots to disrupt her rhythm,” Zheng said. “On clay, drop shots can be a really effective weapon.”
Up next for Zheng is a mouthwatering clash with former U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada. Can she keep her hot streak alive on Rome’s red clay?
Reference(s):
Zheng Qinwen beats Magdalena Frech to make Italian Open round of 16
cgtn.com
