Sept 3, 2024; Flushing, NY, USA; Aryna Sabalenka (left) after beating Qinwen Zheng (CHN) on day nine of the 2024 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

tennis

“Gave Her Too Much Respect”: Zheng Qinwen Beats Aryna Sabalenka to Earn Huge Roland Garros 2025 Morale Boost

First win in 7 attempts for Zheng vs the World No. 1

Sept 3, 2024; Flushing, NY, USA; Aryna Sabalenka (left) after beating Qinwen Zheng (CHN) on day nine of the 2024 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

After six lopsided affairs, Chinese superstar Zheng Qinwen finally achieved a first career win over World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday. Qinwen broke her opponent three times for a polished 6-4 6-3 victory to advance into the 2025 Italian Open semifinals. She is set to face Coco Gauff in the final four – another player whom she is yet to beat on the WTA Tour. The pair coincidentally met one year ago in the quarterfinals of this very tournament.

Qinwen required 1 hour and 37 minutes to snap her winless streak against Sabalenka on Campo Centrale. It happened to be the first meeting between the players on clay – the 22-year-old boasts of a 100% success rate in finals on red dirt – and has a 17-3 record in her last 20 matches on the surface. She also won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics on the courts of Roland Garros in 2024.

Zheng Qinwen Explains Coming of Age vs Sabalenka After Italian Open Win

Qinwen was merely a teenager when she began watching the top seed in Rome for the first time. After her historic first success against Sabalenka, the 2024 Australian Open finalist divulged how her fortunes changed. “I think the few times when I faced her in the beginning, I gave her too much respect. I didn’t face her like a normal player,” Qinwen stated. She revealed how watching Sabalenka from the age of 14-15 played a role in her approach.

“I remember going to see her in 2017 in China – I was there as a junior. I [saw] her in the finals. My father was there saying, ‘Oh you need to learn about her forehand, her backhand.’ I think with this kind of respect, it takes a while for me to treat her like a normal player. So today, I’m just happy that I stayed calm and faced her like a normal player.”

Zheng and Gauff Set for Roman Reunion

Coco and Qinwen finished last year with a bang in the WTA Finals championship 💥

Will Gauff improve their H2H to 3-0, or can Zheng make her first final of the season? 🤔

Stream their #IBI25 showdown Thursday on Tennis Channel 📺 pic.twitter.com/NFJI46oyQq
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) May 14, 2025

Zheng Qinwen will now face World No. 3 Coco Gauff in the semifinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Thursday. The American leads the head to head by 2-0, which includes a straight sets victory in Rome last year. However, Qinwen will take solace in the fact that she has entered her maiden semifinal at the Italian capital after two failed attempts prior to this.

She is only the second Chinese woman to make it to the final four in Rome – after Li Na who finished as the runner-up in 2012. Provided she can overcome the Gauff hurdle, Qinwen will enter her second career WTA-1000 final. She is yet to win a trophy at this level so far.

Aryna Sabalenka

Coco Gauff

Italian Open

Rome Masters

Tennis

WTA

WTA 1000

Zheng Qinwen

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.