Qinwen Zheng told which part of her game is a complete ‘liability’ after being knocked out of the French Open

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Qinwen Zheng was looking to advance to her maiden French Open semi-final with a win over the world number one.

The Chinese star traveled to Paris full of confidence, having won at the venue less than 12 months ago, when Zheng beat Donna Vekic to clinch Olympic Gold last August.

Battling her way past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Emiliana Arango, Victoria Mboko, and Liudmila Samsonova, Zheng booked her place in the quarterfinals.

There, she took on world number one Aryna Sabalenka, whom she’d beaten in Rome less than a month ago.

Unfortunately for the 22-year-old, she couldn’t repeat the feat, as Zheng fell to defeat against Sabalenka, 6-7, 3-6.

Reacting to Zheng’s French Open exit, one tennis legend highlighted an area of her game which he believes to be a ‘liability’.

Mats Wilander believes Qinwen Zheng’s second serve is a ‘liability under pressure’

Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, three-time French Open champion Mats Wilander shared his thoughts on what Zheng needs to improve on.

“[Qinwen] Zheng is not good in the short court. She needs to work on her drop shots and volleys,” he said.

“From the back of the court, she is as powerful as [Aryna] Sabalenka, maybe even more so today, because she has that forehand with so much topspin.

“I think Zheng is going to get better and better because she is going to understand the game and her game more than she does now.

“When she plays well, yes, no problem, but that second serve is a liability under pressure.”

Zheng’s second serve was poor against Sabalenka, as the shot played a large role in her quarterfinal defeat.

The Swede then explained how Zheng can make further improvements to her game and predicted whether she will win a Grand Slam in the future.

“I think with the forehand like Zheng has, she should be able to spin it up high and push her opponent back and then step in and take a short ball,” said Wilander.

“But she is going to improve and has everything you need physically, I think she will be a future Grand Slam champion, and especially here.”

While Wilander told Zheng what she needs to work on, he praised Sabalenka for the changes she’s made to her game over recent years.

The 60-year-old was impressed with how Sabalenka ‘grinded’ out the win against Zheng.

“I can’t believe that she does [have the ability to grind out wins] because when she was younger, she did not have those tendencies at all, but right now she does,” said Wilander.

“She throws in the drop shot quite often, and she wins most of them.”

Qinwen Zheng’s worrying record against Aryna Sabalenka

The world number seven’s hopes of winning a Grand Slam may largely ride on her turning the tide of her rivalry with Sabalenka.

When Zheng beat Sabalenka for the first time at the Italian Open last month, many thought she’d found the answers to her problems against the Belarusian, although it now seems that may have been somewhat of a false dawn.

Zheng has now lost seven of her eight matches to the world number one, four of which came at Major tournaments.

If it weren’t for Sabalenka, Zheng may already be a Grand Slam winner, having lost to the 27-year-old in the final of last year’s Australian Open.

Zheng took advantage of a weakened draw in Melbourne, reaching the final without playing a seeded opponent.

• 2024 Australian Open SF – Qinwen Zheng beat Dayana Yastremska
• 2024 Australian Open QF – Qinwen Zheng beat Anna Kalinskaya
• 2024 Australian Open 4R- Qinwen Zheng beat Oceane Dodin
• 2024 Australian Open 3R – Qinwen Zheng beat Wany Yafan
• 2024 Australian Open 2R – Qinwen Zheng beat Katie Boulter
• 2024 Australian Open 1R – Qinwen Zheng beat Ashlyn Krueger

Playing the number two seed in the final, Zheng’s run came to an end, losing in straight sets, 3-6, 2-6.

Only time will tell who will come out on top when Zheng next plays Sabalenka on the WTA Tour.

Sabalenka will now prepare for her semi-final match with Iga Swiatek on Thursday, June 5, while Zheng rests up ahead of her return to action at the new Queen’s Club WTA 500 event, which begins on Monday, June 9.