"I have the level to beat all of them": Qinwen Zheng sends down gauntlet after dumping out Kontaveit in Adelaide

Qinwen Zheng sent out a warning to the rest of the WTA Tour after beating Kontaveit claiming that she has the level needed to beat all of them.

Zheng made a lot of progress last year establishing herself as one of the better performers on the Tour. She started her year in great fashion in Auckland beating Kontaveit and following the win the Chinese player claimed she can go all the way. She'll need to prove it on the courts but she's not lacking any confidence:

"I always know that I have the level to beat all of them. It's just a problem I have to show it on court... I was leading 4-2 in the second set. If I can do better there, I can close the match in two sets, but I cannot do it in that moment, but it's okay. I accept in that moment, and it was tennis."

She saved a match point against Kontaveit so it was far from perfect and she admitted to have struggled in the final set:

"That match started to be really difficult in the third set. She got a match point, and me, I got a match point, also. Yeah, we had a really tough moment. But anyway, I'm so happy to win my first match of the season."