China Open: Zhang’s incredible turnaround continues with upset over Frech to reach quarters

Local wildcard Shuai Zhang advanced to the quarter-finals of the China Open by defeating Pole Magdalena Frech, the No 23 seed, 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday.

The win continued a remarkable turnaround for Zhang, who had lost her last 24 matches on tour coming into this week (the second longest losing streak on the WTA Tour). Zhang has now won four matches in a row this week to advance to the last eight in Beijing.

Ahead of her win today, the 35-year-old Chinese won against American McCartney Kessler (7-6 (5), 7-6 (1)), American Emma Navarro, the No 6 seed (6-4, 6-2) and Belgian Greet Minnen (6-2, 6-3) and has yet to drop a set this week.

With the win today, she becomes the fourth player to reach the quarter-finals at a WTA1000 Series after having turned 35 since the format was introduced in 2009 after Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Mirjana Lucic.

She also becomes the fourth player ranked outside the top 500 to reach the last eight at a WTA 1000 Series event after Kim Clijsters (Cincinnati 2009), Sloane Stephens (Toronto 2017) and Naomi Osaka (Doha 2024). This is Zhang’s fifth career WTA 1000 Series quarter-final and her third at the China Open.

She will face Spaniard Paula Badosa, the No 15 seed, next at the National Tennis Center in Beijing for a spot in the semi-finals. This will be the first meeting on the WTA Tour between the two players.

Frech, ranked No 31, edged out American qualifier Alycia Parks (6-4, 5-7, 6-4) and Russian Diana Shnaider, the No 12 seed (0-6, 6-3, 6-4) earlier in the week.

Beijing WTA 1000, other round of 16 results (National Tennis Center, hard, USD 8,955,610):

• Paula Badosa beat Jessica Pegula (2): 6-4, 6-0
• Amanda Anisimova vs. Qinwen Zheng
• Magda Linette vs. Mirra Andreeva
• Cristina Bucsa vs. Karolina Muchova
• Aryna Sabalenka vs. Madison Keys
• Naomi Osaka vs. Coco Gauff
• Yuliia Starodubtseva vs. Anna Kalinskaya

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