Zheng Travels A Long Distance To Play And Win At Stuttgart

Zheng Qinwen
Zheng Qinwen (photo: Porsche AG)

STUTTGART/WASHINGTON, April 17, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

World No. 7 Zheng Qinwen of China represented her country in Billie Jean King Cup competition last week in Changsha, China, winning a pair of singles matches against Taiwan and India in Asia/Oceana Group I play. Then, she beat a hasty retreat and flew over 8,600 kilometers from Changsha to Stuttgart, Germany over the weekend to compete in her dream tournament, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

If Zheng seemed jet lagged, it didn’t show on the Porsche Arena Centre Court Tuesday afternoon. That’s because Zheng gave a dominant performance and took care of her first-round opponent, No. 29 Sorana Cirstea of Romania, 6-2, 6-3, in one hour and 16 minutes to advance to the second round against either German wild card and 2017 Stuttgart champion Laura Siegemund or No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who face off Wednesday.

Zheng jumped out to double-break leads of 3-0 in the opening set and 4-0 in the second set and was never seriously threatened by Cirstea.

“I always love to play indoor, because there is no wind effect, no sun effect,” Zheng said in her post-match news conference. “The condition is just, you know, like tennis, you will not get distract from the nature.”

Playing in Stuttgart for the second time – she lost to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in the second round a year ago – the fifth seed Zheng hit 19 winners and took advantage of 19 unforced errors by Cirstea. She converted six of 10 break points and outpointed her opponent 58-44. It all added up to her 13th tour-level victory of the season – and first on clay – in 19 outings.

In her on-court interview, Zheng was asked how she managed to play in China through Saturday and still have the energy to perform in Stuttgart a few days later. She replied: “I really like this tournament in Stuttgart. It’s been one of my dream tournaments since I was 10-years-old. I told my team whatever happens, I will come here to play – even if I have only two days of preparation here.”

Asked if she’s an easy or anxious traveler, Zheng said: “It’s a really long travel for us because you go Changsha to Beijing and Beijing to Frankfurt; then Frankfurt to Stuttgart. So, it was not easy. I slept on the plane, that’s why the time passed fast!”

Zheng began the 2024 season on a high note by stringing together six straight wins to reach the final of the Australian Open, the furthest she’s ever gone in a major. Although she lost the title match to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, everyone – players and fans, alike – took notice and the 21-year-old Zheng made a believer of herself. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 7 at the end of January.

“I always knew I had the potential to reach [the final],” Zheng said. “I knew I could do it. I’m really happy I could reach the final in Australia. I hope there are more [finals] coming. I’m trying to improve every single day. Let’s see what’s going to happen in the future.”

Paolini wins all-Italian battle with doubles partner Errani

Italian No. 1 Jasmine Paolini, who became a Top-20 player after winning her first WTA 1000 title at Dubai in February, won nine of the first 10 points of her first-round match against her doubles partner, fellow Italian Sara Errani. By the end of their brief, 46-minute tussle, it was all hugs and smiles despite the 14th-ranked Paolini winning by a one-sided 6-1, 6-0 score. She captured the last eight games against No. 50 Errani, who made the main draw by winning a pair of qualifying matches over the weekend.

Paolini outpointed Errani 52-19. She hit 33 winners, made just 11 unforced errors and converted six of seven break points. On match point, the diminutive and powerful Paolini hit a sixth-shot cross-court backhand winner.

“Today, I played really well I think,” Paolini said of her first match of the season on clay. “Just a few mistakes in the whole match. I felt great on court. It was a tough match because I know [Sara] very well, she knows me very well. We play doubles together. But I’m really happy with how I managed to play my first match on clay.”

Next, Paolini will face either No. 7 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia or No. 16 Ekaterina Alexandrova, who play Wednesday.

Vondrousova gives herself a 7 out of 10 in first match back

Reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, making her fourth Stuttgart appearance, defeated No. 37 Donna Vekic of Croatia, 6-4, 6-3, in one hour and 26 minutes.

It was the first match for the eighth-ranked Czech since withdrawing from Indian Wells early last month. Earlier this season, she dealt with a hip injury. However, against Vekic, the No. 6 seed Vondrousova played solid tennis and hit 20 winners, converted four of eight break points and outpointed her opponent 66-52.

“I would rate [my performance ] a good seven,” Vondrousova said in her on-court interview. “I think it was a good match. I didn’t play for a couple of weeks, so I’m very happy with my game today.”

Later, she added in her news conference: “I grew up on clay. I like clay. So for me I don’t think it takes so much time.”

Next, Vondrousova will face the winner of Wednesday’s match between unseeded Russians Liudmila Samsonova and Anastasia Potapova.

Mertens gains first Stuttgart victory

Fresh off a quarterfinal showing on green clay two weeks ago in Charleston, S.C., where she lost to eventual champion Danielle Collins, No. 30 Elise Mertens of Belgium won her first-ever match in Stuttgart. In a featured evening session match, the Belgian No. 1 defeated 66th-ranked German wild card Tatjana Maria, 6-1, 4-6, 6-0, in one hour, 43 minutes, to advance to the second round against two-time defending champion and current No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, whom Mertens has never faced.

The 36-year-old Maria, a 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist who played a key role last weekend in Porsche Team Germany’s 3-1 Billie Jean King Cup win in Brazil, said Monday: “I feel good. The long trip back is obviously still in my bones but I’ll try to prepare as best possible for the match.”

In the end, Mertens was the steadier player. She won 80 percent of her first-serve points, hit 37 winners and took advantage of 21 unforced errors by Maria, a native of Bad Saulgau who now resides with her family in Florida. Mertens converted eight of 10 break points and outscored Maria 74-50.

“I’m naturally disappointed that I couldn’t win the match, but I’m satisfied with the way I came back in the second set,” Maria explained. “She played extremely aggressively in the third set and I ran out of steam. It certainly played a part in how everything went.”

“I knew it was going to be tough today playing a German player,” Mertens, 28, said, “but I know how it works. … You always try to do your best and play 100 percent and improve your game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That’s the game. I have a passion for tennis and I try to improve every time. I look at my matches and try to see what I can improve. I think that’s why I am still here.”

Noskova tames Ostapenko for third Top-10 win this year

No. 31 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic came out firing from the beginning and upset No. 8 seed Jelena Ostapenko, 6-3, 6-1, in just 68 minutes to wrap up Tuesday play. The 19-year-old dominated the World No. 10 from Latvia from first ball to last ball.

Noskova hit eight aces, won 72 percent of her first-serve points, hit 23 winners, converted all five of her break-point opportunities and outpointed Ostapenko 67-43. Meanwhile, Ostapenko, in her sixth Stuttgart appearance, won just 34 percent of her service points and was able to break Noskova just once in nine attempts.

“I was just trying to focus on my game, it was my first match this year on clay,” Noskova said on-court after achieving her 13th win of the season in her Stuttgart debut. “I was trying to stay under control at all times.”

Noskova’s win was her third this season against a Top-10 opponent, coming after upsets of World No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the Australian Open and then-No. 9 Maria Sakkari at Doha. “The win over Iga was incredible for me and a good experience. It gave me a lot of trust and belief in myself,” she said.

Top seeds ousted in doubles by German wild cards

Ella Seidel and Nastasja Schunk

Ella Seidel and Nastasja Schunk (photo: Porsche AG)

Defending Porsche Tennis Grand Prix doubles titlists Desirae Krawczyk of the United States and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands, ranked 14th and 10th, respectively, were upset in the opening round by German wild cards Nastasja Schunk and Ella Seidel, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8, in an hour and 39 minutes in the first of four doubles matches on Court 1 Tuesday.

Schunk and Seidel converted four of eight break points and outpointed their opponents 67-66 to advance to the quarterfinal round in the 16-team draw. They improved to 1-1 this season.

Other first-round teams advancing to the quarterfinal round include: unseeded Paula Badosa of Spain and Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, who upset No. 3 seeds Shuko Aoyama of Japan and Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine, 4-6, 7-5, 10-5; No. 2 seeds Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Laura Siegemund of Germany, who defeated Fang-Hsien Wu of Taiwan and Yifan Xu of China, 3-6, 6-4, 10-7; and unseeded Liudmila Samsonova and Diana Shnaider of Russia, who beat Tereza Mohalikova of Slovakia and Yana Sizikova of Russia, 6-3, 6-2.

Around the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

By the numbers

Jelena Ostapenko’s win-loss record against Top 50 opponents this season is now 9-6, including winning title matches at Adelaide (over No. 15 Daria Kasatkina) and at Linz (over No. 21 Ekaterina Alexandrova).

“Quotable …”

Tuesday Media Day with 2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff and two-time Stuttgart titlist Angelique Kerber:

Tuesday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix results

Wednesday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix order of play

 

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