She lost again! Zheng Qinwen falls 0-2 to Cristian at the WTA London event, dropping to world No. 158.

The WTA 500 London event began on June 9 Beijing time, with the first round featuring Chinese talent Zheng Qinwen battling Cristian. The match was plagued by unpredictable weather, and Zheng's form was subpar, resulting in a 0-2 defeat to Cristian. She suffered a straight-set loss on grass, getting off to a rough start. This outcome has been a major setback for Zheng, pushing her world ranking further down to 158th—an extremely disappointing development.

Since suffering an injury, Zheng Qinwen's performance has been on a downward trend. Not only can she no longer beat top-tier players, but she has also been losing consecutively to lower-ranked opponents, causing her ranking to steadily decline. After a first-round exit at the French Open, her world ranking plummeted to 122nd. Now, as the grass-court season begins, she faced Cristian in the first round, who is ranked 38th in the world. Their head-to-head record stands at two wins and two losses, indicating that Cristian is no easy opponent. Whether Zheng could win was uncertain, but she had significant pressure to defend points, having reached the semifinals of this tournament last year.

The match itself was full of twists and turns. Rain in London caused repeated delays—first postponing the start, then interrupting play after it resumed. After the restart, the first four games were evenly matched at 2-2. However, Cristian gradually found her rhythm, pulled ahead, and took control, fending off challenges to win the first set 6-4. The second set was a fierce battle, with both players trading blows and the lead exchanging hands. But after a 6-6 tie, the match went to a tiebreak, where Cristian proved superior, winning it and taking the match 2-0 to advance to the second round.

With Zheng Qinwen's first-round exit, the points from last year's semifinal were deducted, causing her world ranking to drop further. Her current live ranking has fallen to 158th, making her only the seventh-ranked Chinese player. Reflecting on just a year ago, when she was in the world's top four, her decline is astonishing. The reasons are worth pondering: on one hand, injuries; on the other, technical instability—erratic serving, frequent unforced errors, and shaky mentality. It seems she has made little progress, or perhaps her peak has passed. Watch the WTA on Migu Video for non-stop exciting matches!

Written by Sports Novel