Qinwen Zheng Breaks Down in Tears After Roland Garros 1st Round Defeat to Qualifier: “It Was Really Hard for Me”

Things have not been heading in the right direction since Qinwen Zheng returned to the tour after she underwent arthroscopic surgery last year for her elbow injury. In the ongoing French Open, the Chinese ace suffered a 6-4, 6-0 defeat in the first round at the hands of qualifier Maja Chwalinska.

After her surgery, she tried to make her comeback at the China Open but was forced to give a walkover to Linda Noskova in the round of 32. Zheng did not play another tournament before this year’s Qatar Open, and has not yet found her form. And after her Roland Garros heartbreak, Zheng broke down in tears at the press conference.

Of course, it’s hard for me to take when I lost the match. It was really hard for me the match today. That’s tennis sometimes. The match didn’t go my way, especially a lot of the time, I was going back to the court, I felt there was no more space. Obviously, she was doing well to play high balls with top spin. There’s nothing more I can say; I can only take the loss. Let’s see when I can move on.

Zheng entered Roland Garros ranked No. 56, but has now dropped out of the top 100 and sits 119th in the live rankings. She had 430 points to defend in this French Open as she reached the quarterfinals last year (lost to eventual runner-up Aryna Sabalenka).

I didn’t pay too much attention to my ranking, but of course, I need to start all over again, and that’s gonna be different. But I think it’s also gonna be kind of positive for me, for me, I think the problem was I needed more matches to get into rhythm.

Qinwen Zheng added

Zheng is a former World No.4. She reached her career-best ranking after her quarterfinal run at the 2025 French Open. Zheng also finished as the runner-up at the 2024 Australian Open, losing the match to Sabalenka. That same year, she lifted her career’s first Big Title, the Olympic gold medal, by defeating Iga Swiatek in the semifinals and Donna Vekic in the final.

Iga Swiatek on Maja Chwalinska’s win over Qinwen Zheng

Maja Chwalinska will next be locking horns with the 23rd seed, Elise Mertens. On the same day of Chwalinska’s win over Qinwen Zheng, Iga Swiatek registered a quick 6-1, 6-2 first-round win over Emerson Jones. During the on-court interview, Swiatek was asked about her countrywoman’s win over Zheng.

As I was heading to my match, Maja was winning, so I had a feeling that with Maja’s style, it might be hard for Qinwen to find her rhythm at times… Maja has the feel and the tennis to go far in the Grand Slams. I’m glad that in her debut in the Roland Garros main draw, she immediately beat a player like that. That’s definitely a great thing.

Before the French Open, Chwalinska made the second round of a Major just once, at the 2022 Wimbledon. At this year’s Australian Open, she failed to qualify for the main draw. Swiatek, who is set to lock horns with Sara Bejlek, will be hoping to end her title drought. She last won a title at the 2025 Korea Open and has yet to reach another singles final.

Swiatek, in fact, has reached just one semifinal this year, at the Italian Open, losing in three sets to eventual champion Elina Svitolina. The six-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t yet reached a clay-court final since completing the hat-trick at the 2024 Roland Garros by dismantling Jasmine Paolini.

Also read: Stan Wawrinka Shares a Heartfelt Quote After Bidding Emotional Farewell to Roland Garros: “It’s Never Easy to Say Goodbye”