"I believe principally it's on my hand," Zheng Qinwen stated after shedding to Aryna Sabalenka within the Roland Garros quarterfinals.
By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Photograph credit score: Antoine Couvercelle-ROLEX
Zheng Qinwen confirmed a robust sense of self perception capturing the Olympic gold medal on Court docket Philippe Chatrier final August.
As we speak, Zheng stated self-sabotage price her shot on the Roland Garros semifinals.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka stopped Zheng 7-6(3), 6-3 to achieve the Roland Garros semifinals—and avenge final month’s Rome loss to the Olympic gold-medal champion.
Afterward, Zheng stated nerves price her the match.
Zheng led 4-2 and was at 30-all on Sabalenka’s serve—two factors from a double break—when she blocked a routine backhand volley into internet. Zheng stated these varieties of errors—and 5 double faults—confirmed the jitters.
“I believe I'm simply getting tight as a result of it's the French Open quarterfinals,” Zheng stated. “I believe doesn't matter who I face.
“I can be actually tight as a result of I’ve a lot hungry in French Open, after which I believe this may make me efficiency even not finest, and it's perhaps not, I’ll say, right now I don't even carry out at 60, 70%.”
It’s Sabalenka’s eleventh profession main semifinal, together with her ninth semifinal in her final 10 Grand Slam tournaments as she continues her hunt for a maiden Roland Garros crown.
The highest-seeded Sabalenka, who improved to 7-1 lifetime vs. Zheng, praised the eighth-seeded Chinese language for a gripping battle.
"She performed unbelievable tennis. She's an ideal participant, and I anticipated her to play an ideal match," Sabalenka stated of Zheng. "I loved this battle. I loved that I needed to come again in that first set, and the primary set was, like, actually tight. It may go both approach.
"So I used to be actually having fun with it. I'm tremendous comfortable that I acquired win in straight units."
In a rematch of the 2024 Australian Open remaining, Zheng stated she felt she misplaced the match greater than Sabalenka received it.
“I believe perhaps throughout the match I ought to play a bit extra aggressive, and I believe within the first set I made a number of, you recognize, simple errors,” Zheng stated. “I give her the possibility really easy. In fact, I believe principally I made a match lose.
“I believe principally it's on my hand as a result of already I did some double fault within the first set once I'm main with my service recreation. However, yeah, it's tennis. There's nothing extra I can do.”
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