In the second round of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 1000 Rome tournament on May 7, China’s Zheng Qinwen defeated Spain’s Bucsa 7-6(6), 6-2 in 1 hour and 35 minutes to secure a spot in the round of 32.
This was the first meeting between the two players. In the first set, Zheng broke Bucsa’s serve in the opening game but then struggled with double faults in her own service game, allowing Bucsa to break back and level the score at 5-5. In the 12th game, Zheng saved two set points from her opponent to force a tiebreak. Trailing 1-4 in the tiebreak, Zheng rallied to win 7-6(6) and take the first set.
In the second set, Zheng saved three break points while serving at 0-40 in the first game and held her serve. She then capitalized on a double fault from Bucsa to break in the fourth game, ultimately closing out the set 6-2.
After the match, Zheng admitted she is still not at her peak form but believes she can make up for it by playing more matches. “I keep talking about focus. Maybe now I can maintain focus for eight or nine games, but when I first returned, I couldn’t even keep it for three or four games. I need to take it step by step, match by match, and just try to win,” she said.
Zheng now has 12 wins and 3 losses in her career at the Rome tournament, making it the event where she has the most main-draw victories. “I think Rome’s sea-level altitude is very comfortable for me. Also, the fans here are incredibly supportive. Even when I felt down today, I could feel the encouragement from Chinese fans and local fans—it really lifted me up,” Zheng added.
In the next round, Zheng will face either Ruse or Ostapenko.
