China Open: defiant history-maker Zhang Shuai wins 4th match in a row to power into last 8
The lowest-ranked player to reach quarter-finals will now face Spain’s Paula Badosa, who beat US Open finalist and second seed, Jessica Pegula
The 595th-ranked Zhang Shuai added another chapter to her renaissance as she rolled into the quarter-finals of her home China Open on Tuesday to make more history.
Zhang’s 6-4, 6-2 victory over Magdalena Frech was her fourth win in Beijing and all in straight sets – having come into the event after losing 24 singles matches in a row.
The barren run lasting more than 600 days was the second-longest on the WTA Tour in the Open Era, which began in 1968.
The 35-year-old Zhang, a former two-time grand slam quarter-finalist who has been plagued by injury, again made a nonsense of her ranking against the world No 31 Frech from Poland.
Zhang, a former top-25 player who has won two major doubles titles, will face Spain’s 19th-ranked Paula Badosa in the last eight.
The lowest-ranked player to ever reach this stage of the China Open, Zhang raced away with the second set against Frech in front of a packed Beijing crowd on her country’s national day.
She had two match points when serving at 5-1. Frech just about held on, but it was only a reprieve.