China's veteran Zhang Shuai stuns Navarro at WTA Wuhan Open
WUHAN -- Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai thrilled the home crowd with an impressive comeback win over the 14th seed Emma Navarro 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in the first round of the Wuhan Open on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old Zhang dominated the opening set with a stronger and more reliable serve, winning 82.4 percent of her first serve points, far beyond 58.1 percent of her American opponent.
Navarro, 24, fought back in the second to level the match and took a 3-0 lead in the third set. But Zhang showed resilience amid loud cheers from the home crowd, reeling off six consecutive games, including three breaks of serve, to complete the comeback. She converted her first match point in the ninth game to seal the victory after one hour and 36 minutes.
"It was a match full of ups and downs, just like life," Zhang said after the match. "When you've been through so many highs and lows, you learn to stay calm and positive in every situation."
Zhang admitted that the humid conditions affected her physically in the middle of the match, which contributed to her loss of rhythm.
"I started to sweat a lot (after the first set), which rarely happens to me. For a few games I completely lost focus and made unforced errors," she said. "But I'm glad I managed to reset before the end, find my rhythm again and play my tennis in the last few games. That experience - staying calm and adjusting when things go wrong - is what I've learned over all these years."
She added that she has been "trying to control everything in life and in tennis, including my emotions, my attitude and my game," emphasizing that doing the right things matters more than results. "That mindset helps me play cleaner, more focused tennis," she said.
Ranked No 142 in the world, Zhang has spent most of this season competing in lower-tier events, struggling to find main-draw wins at major tournaments. But her form has improved on home soil as she reached the third round of last week's China Open before falling to the eventual champion Amanda Anisimova.
It was Zhang's second win against Navarro, having also beaten her 6-4, 6-2 at last year's China Open. With the victory, Zhang, the former world No. 22 and two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, enters the second round, where she will next face Romania's Sorana Cirstea.
Earlier, Japan's four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka rallied past Canada's Leylah Fernandez 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 while Britain's Emma Raducanu was forced to retire while trailing 6-1, 4-1 against American Ann Li.
