Zheng Qinwen claimed victory against Venus Williams in the Second Round of the Western & Southern Open by 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
The major upset in the first round of the Cincinnati Open was the impressive win by wild card Venus Williams over world No. 16 Veronika Kudermetova.
The American was down 1-4 in the first set but managed to secure it with a 6-4 score. The same scenario played out in the second set as she trailed 1-5, only to turn it around and win 7-5.
World No. 24 Zheng Qinwen easily defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1, 6-4, securing a triumph in her debut appearance in Cincinnati.
The 7-time Grand Slam champion displayed remarkable performance right from the outset of the first set. In Zheng's first service game, she seized every opportunity to break, achieving it twice consecutively in the fourth and sixth games of the set.
Venus Williams encountered few challenges in her service games, facing only three points against her serve until the pivotal game at 5-1. Despite Zheng's first break point opportunity, the American maintained her composure and clinched the set with a commanding 6-1 score.
The 20-year-old faced significant issues with her service in the first set, predominantly relying on her second serve: she managed only a 34% first serve accuracy and won a mere 38% of second serve points.
Although the second set initially favored the former world No. 1 with an early break that put her ahead 2-0, Zheng found her rhythm on the court, winning six consecutive games to level the match with a 6-2 score.
She improved her first serve statistics to a 50% accuracy rate, and her success rate with the first serve points increased to 80%, while maintaining a 60% success rate with the second serve.
Williams had a 60% first serve accuracy, but she only won 40% of those points and 30% with the second serve.
The third set was an absolute domination by Zheng, who won five consecutive games. Although Venus Williams managed to hold her service once, the young Chinese player didn't falter and clinched the match 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
In the upcoming round, Zheng will face world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, against whom she holds a 3-0 head-to-head advantage in favor of the Polish player.
QINWEN v. IGA! ⚡️👀 Qinwen Zheng comes from a set and a break down to defeat Venus Williams 1-6 6-2 6-1 and will face Iga Swiatek in the third round of Cincinnati. One moral bagel and a breadstick for the Chinese, who will now face a player who scored 38 (6-0 and 6-1) this…
