Zheng Qinwen is officially set to make her post-surgery comeback this week after the Chinese tennis star's name appeared in Beijing's main draw.
After losing to Katerina Siniakova in the Wimbledon first round on July 1st and undergoing elbow surgery, the world No. 9 missed the US Open and took her time to recover from the procedure.
Now, nearly three months later, Zheng is returning to tennis in front of her home fans in Beijing, where she is the No. 7 seed and has a first-round bye before meeting the winner of the match between Wang Yafan and Suzan Lamens. But then, it is expected to get significantly trickier for the home star as third and fourth-round matchups against No. 26seed Linda Noskova and Montreal champion Victoria Mboko are looming.
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Should Zheng make a run in her very first tournament back, she could possibly meet No. 4 seed Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinal and top seed Iga Swiatek in the semifinal, respectively. In case the top-ranked Chinese female tennis player makes the China Open final, the rivals she could face there include Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, Elena Rybakina, and Jasmine Paolini.
Zheng enjoyed a deep Beijing run last year
In her China Open debut in 2023, Zheng didn't do well after she easily lost in the first round. But last year, the home player managed to put aside the pressure of playing in front of her home fans and she made the semifinal before falling short to Karolina Muchova in the semifinal.
Considering that Zheng hasn't played in a long time, she probably won't put big expectations on herself at the China Open this year. But that doesn't mean that the home star won't hope to do well in front of her home for the second year in a row.
