Qinwen Zheng made her long-awaited return to the match court at the Qatar Open.
Zheng underwent elbow surgery after Wimbledon last year, which forced the former world number four to miss the US Open.
The 23-year-old was able to play another match last year, with Zheng returning at the China Open.
However, she was handed a setback after retiring in Beijing, before Zheng also withdrew from the Australian Open.
Zheng has now just played her first match in six months at the Qatar Open, with the former Australian Open finalist now providing an update on her physical condition.
Qinwen Zheng provides update on her elbow after playing first match back
Zheng came from a set down to beat Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin, 4-6 6-1 6-2, in her first round match at the Qatar Open.
After spending two hours on court in her first match since September, Zheng was asked if she felt any pain in her elbow during the match.
While Zheng admitted she was not pain free, she claimed that she was in ‘a really good stage’ in her recovery.
“I think when you come back from injury, it’s never totally pain-free,” Zheng said in her press conference, as reported by wtatennis.com.
“It always comes with up and down process. Sometimes, when you wake up, you feel better. Sometimes, when you wake up, you feel a bit worse. But generally I believe my elbow is in a good process because I could feel it.
“When I was in China Open, I wasn’t sure I should play so I would say my elbow right now — I’m in a really good stage, and I can keep going for another two hours serving 190 (km/h).”
How would you solve the tennis injury crisis?
Qinwen Zheng admits what she did not expect to happen after undergoing elbow surgery
This was only Zheng’s third match in the last seven months, with the Chinese star admitting that her recovery took far longer than expected.
“Nobody expected the recovery of the surgery would take so long,” added Zheng. “We all thought it was only two months and after I can jump back on the court easily.
“But at the end when I was in the China Open, my elbow still didn’t have the full extension.”
Which WTA player would benefit the most from playing best-of-five sets?
Despite her lengthy absence from the WTA Tour, Zheng has still been able to maintain a respectable ranking of world number 26.
Zheng will be hoping that her elbow recovers well from her match against Kenin, as she has less than a day to recover before her second round match.
This is where Zheng will play another American in Alycia Parks, who she has a 1-1 head-to-head against.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
