French Open: Zheng Qinwen advances to fourth round of Roland Garros after Alize Cornet retires with injury
- Playing in just her second grand slam main draw, the 19-year-old Chinese is making her mark on the Paris clay
- Li Na, Zhang Shuai and Zheng Jie are the other women from China to get this far at Roland Garros
Zheng Qinwen has become the fourth Chinese woman to reach the fourth round at the French Open, doing so in her tournament debut.
The 74th-ranked Zheng was leading 6-0, 3-0 on Saturday at Court Philippe Chatrier when her opponent, France’s Alizé Cornet, stopped playing because of what she said was a torn muscle in her upper left leg.
Cornet said she got injured during her previous match, a win against 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, and considered not playing at all against Zheng.
Zheng is a 19-year-old who is ranked 74th and playing in only her second grand slam tournament. She moved into a match-up against No 1 Iga Swiatek.
Li Na, Zhang Shuai and Zheng Jie are the other women from China to get this far at Roland Garros. Li won the 2011 French Open and the 2014 Australian Open and is the only Chinese tennis player with a major singles title.
“What is amazing is that people had the cheek to boo me on the court when I had to abandon the match. And it was because I was in pain,” said Cornet, whose left thigh was heavily strapped.