Zhang Shuai, who recently ended a run of 24 successive defeats, has pulled off an incredible upset by beating Emma Navarro at the China Open. The former Grand Slam quarter-finalist is the lowest-ranked player to ever compete in the main draw of her home tournament.
Earlier this week, she won her first match in more than 600 days by defeating McCartney Kessler in straight sets. She followed up with a seismic victory over Navarro, who is ranked eighth in the world and reached the semi-finals of the US Open earlier this month.
Zhang was comfortably the better player, easing to a 6-4 6-2 triumph and booking her place in the third round of the China Open. The result also delivered a big blow to Navarro’s hopes of qualifying for the year-end WTA Finals in November.
Zhang’s cruel losing streak went on for a staggering 603 days before her win over Kessler in Beijing. It ended five short of the record set by Madeleine Pegel, who lost 29 successive matches between 1968 and 1972.
Speaking to WTA Insider after her victory against Kessler, Zhang said: “I think that this is the perfect timing. My first win at a WTA tournament was 15 years ago at China Open and then the next day I beat the No.1 player [Dinara Safina in 2009]. Maybe God has a plan.”
The 35-year-old also said that she wanted one more win before calling time on her career, adding: “It was like before when I lost the first round at the Grand Slams all the time, so I thought I have to challenge myself, but I am not young anymore.
“I don’t have so many chances. I don’t have that many tournaments. I need a little bit better draw. I need at least one more win in my life.”
Coco Gauff was among those delighted to see Zhang’s losing streak come to an end, with the American sending her a congratulatory message. Gauff also revealed how she was comforted by Zhang during a tough time before her US Open triumph last year.
She explained: “She [Zhang] said: ‘Don’t worry Coco, you will win a Grand Slam. I have so much belief in you. I would bet my life on it’. And then I won the US Open. I never told her that, but it stuck with me for a long time, just that she had that belief in me.
“I think every player on tour likes her so it’s so great to see her win. I love her. She deserves everything. It was tough to see her going through the streak, but honestly through it all you would have never noticed she was going through that.
“I’ve seen her literally five minutes after matches and she would still say hi to me and be so excited to see me, which, I’m not like that after I lose. That just shows the type of person she is. I’ve learned a lot from her.”
