Qinwen Zheng has already impressed after playing her first match on the WTA Tour in five months.
Zheng underwent elbow surgery after Wimbledon last year, and was only able to play one more tournament in 2025.
However, the same injury appeared to flare up in her first tournament back last year, leading to Zheng withdrawing from the Australian Open this year.
Zheng has now returned to winning ways at the Qatar Open, and she impressed in her victory over Sofia Kenin.
Qinwen Zheng impresses on serve in her first match back
Zheng beat former Australian Open champion Kenin, 4-6 6-1 6-2, in her first match since September.
As a former world number four, Zheng is seen as a future major champion to many, and she showed just why that is against Kenin.
In her first round victory at the Qatar Open, Zheng hit a total of 20 aces and 43 winners past Kenin.
Kenin was the most aced player on the WTA Tour in 2025, but these were still impressive numbers from Zheng.
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When asked specifically about the number of aces she hit, Zheng revealed that the serve is something she has really been working on, particularly with the elbow being a fundamental part of the shot.
However, Zheng pointed out that she was only one match back and wanted to make sure she could keep these numbers up.
“I didn’t see the stats yet, but obviously — me and my team — we are working so hard on that because I’ve been out for six months with my elbow,” Zheng said in her post-match press conference, as reported by wtatennis.com.
“That’s not easy and I want to come back really strong. I’m glad I did that in the first match, but it’s tennis — it has to be consistent, it’s not only one round.”
Qinwen Zheng suggests what she needs to improve in her next match
Despite impressing in her first match back on the WTA Tour, Zheng still believes she has some things to improve within her game.
When analysing her performance, Zheng admitted she struggled in the first set and explained that she realised that she needs to be more patient.
“I expect that I can play better,” said Zheng. “When I was in the first set especially I couldn’t read the match and I think the speed wasn’t what I expected.
“Somehow, I found a way to win and this is most important. In tennis match, I can’t always feel perfect. I can’t always shoot a winner from my racket so I start to be a bit more patient during the match, trying to go back a bit more and find my rhythm, start to attack again.
“I would say there’s still a lot of things I could do better during this match, and I’m just happy I get a chance in the next match to do better in my tennis.”
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Zheng will be hoping to implement these improvements for her second round match at the Qatar Open against Alycia Parks.
This will be a third meeting between the two players, with both Zheng and Parks having a win apiece.
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