Qinwen: "Maybe I have rushed playing here, but I needed it"

Fernando Murciego | 30 Sep 2025 | 07.57

Qinwen Zheng analyzes her elbow injury in Beijing. Source: Getty

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More than three months waiting for the return of Qinwen Zheng, timing her recovery to make a comeback on the Asian tour after surgery on her right elbow. It was quite a coincidence, wasn't it? The reality is that the tennis player from Shiyan still needed a few more weeks to compete without pain, but the excitement of playing in front of her people at the WTA 1000 in Beijing 2025 outweighed any other factor, even those who advised her to wait a little longer.

The result was a notable victory against Emiliana Arango (6-3, 6-2) and a preventive withdrawal in the next round against Linda Noskova (6-4, 3-6, 3-0 Ret) when she felt her elbow couldn't handle more. The plan warranted an extra effort, although in her mind, she always knew she didn't come to Beijing to lift the title but simply to test herself physically on the court. And now what? Well, more tests, risk analysis, and decision-making. These were the words of Qinwen Zheng just after her abandonment.

Withdrawal in the third set

"The reality is that I was playing with a lot of repetition, so I began to feel it a bit more, which is normal. I expected that something like this could happen, so I decided that when the pain increased, stopping to avoid damaging the area, the smart thing to do was to stop. Now I'm thinking about the second set, where I continued pushing until the end, but there came a point when I said... that's it. I'm playing with pain, but that pain should be manageable; after all, it's the first time in my life that I undergo surgery like this. I don't want to be too aggressive with the treatment; I have to consider my professional career, which I hope will be very long."

Several withdrawals on the same day

"This is part of the game; as a professional tennis player, this is why we have to play so many tournaments, due to today's extended calendar. I think my situation is different from theirs; I come from surgery; perhaps it was a really hurried decision for me to play here [...] I don't know, maybe it was the right decision to come here because I needed to see where my body was at this moment. Now I know that, to compete in the third set, the number of times I have to hit the ball is too much for me."

When will I be at 100%?

"Right now, this is a complicated question; I need to recheck through an MRI what the consequences of this tournament are, to see if anything has changed. My elbow is as it is; I hope that withdrawing after these three games served some purpose. For me, it is still very positive to continue playing tennis; it's like breaking a barrier, but at the same time, I have to be smart. In the second set, I already knew that I couldn't push anymore; I could do it throughout the first set, but the lesson I'm taking is that a third set, right now, is too much for my elbow. I hope with time everything will improve."

Assessment of her tennis

"I think there are some things I need to improve; I know I can make better decisions during matches, especially at certain times. I'm trying to be a more aggressive player than before, although what keeps coming to my mind all the time is whether I should keep pushing or should I stop. It's difficult to compete in a match when you constantly have that doubting mentality; here, it's all or nothing. I remember last year, at the Paris Olympics, going all out in every match. If I had to break something, I would break it right there, but now it's as if I think much more about taking care of my body. I have some doubts within me, which is why I still can't show my best version."

A role model for her country

"I am very happy to be a great influence on tennis in China because, as a reason, more and more people know about tennis every day; surely, we will be bigger in the future. At the moment, we have many players on the women's circuit and also on the men's, starting to be better than those of the previous generation; more and more people are playing this sport. I am convinced that in the next ten years, better players will emerge. One of the reasons I decided to play this sport is because I know people love to watch me; it's for them that I made this somewhat hasty decision to play here because I want to see how far I can go. I feel very sorry for having withdrawn here, but my body didn't allow me to continue; that's all. Right now, the priority is to recover; then we'll see."