Qinwen Zheng admits making mistakes after undergoing surgery last year, ‘this is a good lesson for me’

Before that, however, she progressed to the main draw in New York and made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam. Zheng beat Iga Swiatek during her memorable run, which was ended only by eventual champion Elena Rybakina.

Zheng has been building her way back up the WTA rankings after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on her right elbow last summer, which she has just discussed ahead of the China Open. Having once climbed as high as world number four, she enters the event ranked 54th in the world.

How would you solve the tennis injury crisis?

Qinwen Zheng admits making ‘wrong choices’ after elbow surgery

Speaking to the media in Beijing, Zheng was asked for her debrief one year on from her surgery, to which she replied: “Well, sooner or later I would have to go through this kind of surgery. After the surgery, during the recovery, because of a lack of understanding of the recovery, not enough visits to the doctors or receiving advice from different doctors, I was making some wrong choices in this period.

“Injury, it is very common for all the players. The most important thing is after the injury, how do you recover as fast as possible. To do a debrief of last year, because I was really rushed, I really wanted to play matches. My doctor told me I was able to play in those matches. But after these tournaments, the condition worsened, which took me longer to recover. This is a good lesson for me next time.”

It’s an honest admission from the Chinese superstar, who has 18 wins and 14 losses to her name in the 2026 season. If she makes it past Han, 15th seed Anna Kalinskaya awaits in round two. The home favourite has accepted a wildcard to play at the WTA 1000 event.

Qinwen Zheng confident she can break WTA top 3

As mentioned, Zheng is a former world number four, while she also made it to the final of the 2024 Australian Open and the WTA Finals. Injury has significantly derailed her exciting career, but she remains upbeat that a return to the upper echelons of women’s tennis is very much possible.

Explaining what the WTA rankings mean to her right now after slipping from number four, she said: “Well, I know why, right? If it’s not for the surgery, I could keep going higher. Somehow the surgery stopped my progress. I have to start kind of from zero again.

“Ranking right now for me is a number. Of course, it shows what I did in the last one year. I know where I’m capable to be. Here is not the place where I deserve. Of course, I believe I could reach higher. Like you say, my highest ranking is number four. I still believe I could do much better than that. I really want to see what I can bring in the future. I know deep inside me, but I have to prove it.”

There is no better place to start than on home soil at the China Open, where fan support should help push her into the latter stages of the event. She should also be confident after her fabulous US Open run, which pushed her ranking from outside the top 120 to just outside the top 50.

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