Zheng Qinwen eyes improvement in 2025, starting with Italian Open
The Olympic champion’s year so far has been blighted by an elbow injury, while she crashed out of last month’s Madrid Open
China’s Zheng Qinwen said she needed to rediscover “the feeling of the game” to progress in the Italian Open, which starts on Wednesday.
The Olympic champion’s year has been blighted by an elbow injury, while she crashed out of last month’s Madrid Open in the second following a disappointing defeat against world No 34 Anastasia Potapova.
Seeded eighth in Rome, which is a Masters 1000 event, the 22-year-old’s tournament starts in the second round on Friday.
“The worst point [of my injury] started during the semi-final [of the WTA Finals] in Riyadh, because I then spent the entire off-season recovering my elbow and didn’t train enough,” Zheng told Chinese state media.
“So, because I didn’t train, my results were definitely not as good as expected. But now, my elbow is not one of my main problems, I have to get back to the state of the competition, the feeling of the game, and fight one match at a time, just like when I had nothing.”
Her shock loss to Potapova came shortly after she had appeared to recover her form, having reached the quarter-finals of the Charleston Open, the Miami Open and Indian Wells.