Zheng Victorious in Beijing Return: "I'm Only at 70%, But I Can Play"

Far from being at full strength, Qinwen Zheng still secured her first match win since June in Beijing. The Chinese player acknowledges an extremely lengthy recovery process... and promises the best is yet to come.

Nearly three months after her last match, Qinwen Zheng made a winning return to the tour. Playing before her home crowd in Beijing, she defeated Emiliana Arango (6-3, 6-2), marking her first victory since June 13th.

In a press conference, the world No. 9 and 2024 Australian Open finalist shared her feelings and the status of her right elbow:

"Originally, Beijing wasn't in my plans. As I said on court, I'm still not at 100%. More like 70 or 80%, but I'm able to play. The recovery process is very long.

At first, I recovered quickly. But for some unknown reason, the last 20 percent hasn't progressed. I feel some fatigue in the operated area, which is normal. I expected that.

But it will get better. I've done very good rehabilitation with my team, so we'll see how far I can go.

[...] My serve hasn't reached ideal speed yet. On average, I'm serving at 175 km/h. If I heal a bit more, I can increase my speed. I think that's part of the remaining 20 percent I'm working on."