Elena Rybakina is back on the tennis courts, and she smashed Asian Games champion Qinwen Zheng in two sets at the 2023 China Open in Beijing.
Zheng has been a very quiet breakout star on the WTA Tour for about two years now. The Chinese player has been slowly rising through the ranks with her consistent performances that recently culminated in her winning the Asian Games.
Even though she's played great tennis recently, the effort of winning the Asian games clearly impacted her fitness as she couldn't hold her own against Elena Rybakina in this one. Rybakina was initially scheduled to return last week in Tokyo but withdrew from the event after the whole performance byes controversy. She later revealed that she'd dealt with an illness and that the Tokyo return was simply too soon.
There was no sign of illness in Beijing as Rybakina smashed her opponent in a match between two very hard-hitting tennis players. She dominated rallies relatively easily though Zheng made it somewhat easy for her with her poor serving.
The Chinese player generally has a really good serve, and much in her play depends on it. If she doesn't have it, her whole level drops, and Rybakina was simply ready for it. 6-1 was the score in the opening set, and the second set didn't go any better for the Chinese native.
Zheng recently made headlines by sharing her disappointment of losing coach Wim Fissette to Naomi Osaka. She was quite emotional talking about it and it seems like that whole ordeal along with the Asian games simply drained her too much.
The second set was another demolition by Rybakina who cruised to an easy finish. The final score was 6-1 6-2 for the Kazakstani player who will play Tatjana Maria in the next round. If she brings this level, it should be a rather comfortable win.
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