Aryna Sabalenka Glad to Get Rome Revenge on Qinwen Zheng After Reaching the Semi-Final of Roland Garros

Aryna Sabalenka punished a rather error-prone Qinwen Zheng at Roland Garros, exacting revenge following recent loss.

Aryna Sabalenka Glad to Get Rome Revenge on Qinwen Zheng After Reaching the Semi-Final of Roland Garros

Qinwen Zheng, Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/WTA, Roland Garros)

Aryna Sabalenka earned her revenge against Qinwen Zheng in the quarter-finals of the Roland Garros. The Belarusian had lost to the Olympic gold-medalist at the Italian Open last month but resumed her dominance over the Chinese star to reach her 11th major tournament semi-final of her career.

Until last month, Sabalenka had a stranglehold on her rivalry with Zheng, winning their first six encounters and just dropping one set at the Wuhan Open final in 2024. But in their first clay-court meeting, Zheng produced an excellent performance to notch up her first win over the World No.1 – 6-4, 6-3 in Rome.

Ahead of their quarter-final clash at the Roland Garros, Sabalenka sent a clear warning to her opponent seeking revenge. She proved it early into the encounter on Tuesday (June 3), hitting drop shots that unsettled her opponent, besides a strong service. Nevertheless, Zheng found a way to lead 4-2 in the first set as her movement on the court neutralized Sabalenka’s game plan.

Leading 4-2, 30-15, Zheng coughed up consecutive double faults, which opened the door for Sabalenka to get back into the set. The US Open champion went back to her customary style of hammering forehand shots and groundstrokes, and the Olympic gold medal winner was back in the position of chasing from behind.

Sabalenka carried on in the match and didn’t give Zheng any chance in the second set. The Belarusian star went on to claim a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory to extend her head-to-head record against the Chinese to 7-1. During her on-court interview, Sabalenka revealed that she was glad to lose to Zheng in Rome because she was tired:

Last tournament, I was pretty exhausted, honestly, at the end of the match, I was actually glad that I lost that match because I needed a little break before Roland Garros. Today I was fresher, ready to do battle, ready to fight, ready to leave everything I have on the court to get this win. I’m really happy with the win.

Sabalenka will face Iga Swiatek in the semi-final of the Roland Garros after the Polish star defeated Elina Svitolina 6-1, 7-5 to earn her place in the last four. The former is yet to get beyond the semi-final of the French Open, while the latter has won the tournament four times in her career and is the current defending champion.

Qinwen Zheng bemoans over missed chances against Aryna Sabalenka at the Roland Garros

Qinwen Zheng has herself to blame after her defeat against Aryna Sabalenka in Roland Garros. The Chinese star had the lead twice in the first set, first 4-2 (30-15) and then 6-5 (30-30), but she squandered her chances, and let Sabalenka win the set.

Qinwen Zheng
Qinwen Zheng (via X)

She bemoaned her misses chances during her press conference, stating that she made a lot of mistakes in the first set. However, she took the loss in good faith:

I think in the first set I made a lot of easy mistakes. I give her a chance so easily. Of course, I think mostly I made a match lose. I think it’s mostly on my hand because already I did some double fault in the first set when I’m leading with my service game. But it’s tennis. There’s nothing more I can do.

Zheng will now be looking forward to bouncing back from the disappointing loss in the grass-court season, which begins fully after the French Open. She won only one match on grass last year and was stunned by Lulu Sun in the first round of the 2024 Wimbledon Championship. This year, she will hope to do better at the grass-court Grand Slam.

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