‘Really, Really Tough’ – Zheng Qinwen Inconsolable As She Bursts Into Tears After French Open Exit

Zheng Qinwen suffered a heartbreaking first-round exit at the French Open, losing in straight sets to qualifier Maja Chwalińska. The 23-year-old broke down in tears as she dissected her shock 4-6, 0-6 defeat.

Zheng Qinwen Breaks Down In Tears While Dissecting Shock French Open Defeat

Zheng arrived at Roland Garros looking to repeat the heroics that helped her win the gold medal in women’s singles at the Paris Olympics two years ago. But she was unable to repeat that run and fell to a shock defeat against Chwalińska in the first round.

A quarterfinalist at the French Open last year, Zheng has had to deal with a plethora of injuries in recent years. She missed this year’s Australian Open as she continued her recovery from her elbow injury, but showed glimpses of her quality on her return to the tour in February. However, she wasn’t able to build on that progress in Paris, falling to a shock first-round exit.

During the post-match press conference, the Chinese star broke down in tears as she reflected on the loss.

“I need to accept that I did not play well and lost the match. [Losing in the] Roland Garros first round is really, really tough for me. It will take some time to handle it,” Zheng said.

Following her early exit from the French Open, Zheng is set to face a drastic drop in her ranking. She is set to drop out of the top 100, with the live WTA Rankings placing her in 119th. She believes that this could be a silver lining as it will allow her to play more matches and find her rhythm after a long injury layoff.

“I didn’t pay too much attention to my ranking. But of course I need to start all over again, and that is going to be different. But I think it will also be kind of a positive for me because I get to play a lot of matches. I think the problem was I needed more matches to get into the rhythm,” she added.

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Following her first-round exit at the French Open, Zheng will return to the drawing board as she looks to rediscover her form ahead of the grass-court swing. Regarded as one of the most exciting young players in women’s tennis, the 2024 Australian Open finalist will aim to pick herself back up and get back on track in the coming months.