Chinese veteran tennis player Zhang Shuai secured her return to the Australian Open by defeating her compatriot Guo Hanyu 7-6(2), 0-6, 7-5 in the women’s singles final of the Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff held in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, on Saturday.
“Guo Hanyu has great baseline skills and a much higher tennis IQ than any player of my generation,” Zhang said after the hard-fought match. “Her serves and returns are both excellent. So, though I won today, I call it a lucky victory. I only beat her by one or two points at the end of the contest.”
The victory means Zhang will make her 13th appearance at the Australian Open in 2025. Her best performances at the tournament include reaching the singles quarterfinals in 2016 and winning the women’s doubles title alongside Australia’s Samantha Stosur in 2019.
In her last appearance at the Australian Open, Zhang was the No. 23 seed and advanced to the round of 16 before falling to Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. She missed the tournament and the French Open this year before suffering early exits in the first round at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
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China's veteran Zhang Shuai makes it back to Australian Open
cgtn.com
