Number 3 seed Zheng Qinwen of China had a confident win in her second-round match at the Credit One Charleston Open on Wednesday night. She defeated Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the Round of 16.
In her first Charleston appearance since 2022, Olympic gold medalist Zheng took 1 hour and 32 minutes to overcome former World No. 3 Sakkari, who reached the Charleston semifinals last year.
`[I knew] when I have to attack and when to defend, because everyone here is adapting from hard courts to clay,` Zheng said in her on-court interview. `I think whoever adjusts better can win this tournament.`
Key Match Insights:
Zheng`s Clay-Court Momentum: While Sakkari had a 2-1 lead in previous matches against Zheng, all those were on hard courts. Clay is a different game. Before this week, Zheng`s last clay event was her gold medal victory at the 2024 Paris Olympics, held at Roland Garros.
Zheng brought that clay confidence to this match, now boasting a 12-match winning streak on this surface, including her title defense in Palermo before the Olympics.
Sakkari`s ranking has dropped from No. 7 to No. 64 in the past year, and her record for the year is 6 wins and 11 losses. She was hoping for her first Top 10 win in over a year but has now lost all 8 matches against Top 10 players since defeating Coco Gauff at the 2024 Indian Wells.
Power Game Fuels Zheng`s Victory: Zheng`s powerful forehand is very effective on clay, allowing her to control the court. This strength helped her win a long game at 3-3 and secure the crucial break in the first set.
As the WTA ace leader last year, Zheng`s strong first serve remains a significant advantage, even on clay. A powerful serve saved a break point as she consolidated for a 5-3 lead, eventually taking the first set.
Zheng`s first serve continued to dominate in the second set. It was key when it landed in – she won 87.5% of her first-serve points. However, her second serve was less reliable, winning only about a third of those points.
Despite this, Zheng served effectively enough to win without being broken, saving both break points she faced. Fittingly, her final shot was a strong forehand that forced an error, sealing the match.
First Encounter Awaits: Zheng`s next match in the Round of 16 will be against No. 13 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium. Mertens defeated Varvara Gracheva of France 6-3, 7-5 in Wednesday`s final match at Credit One Stadium.
This will be a new challenge for Zheng as she has never played against Mertens, a former Top 15 player.
