Zhang Shuai:
We are not enemies, like what you assume, like soldiers, warriors. We’re warriors on court. Off court we are not that aggressive. We also need comfort when we lose. We also need encouragement. When we are injured, sick, we also need help. So don’t assume that we are all warriors. We are just ordinary girls.
With Emma Navarro and Barbora Krejcikova, the No 6 and 7 seeds, having lost their opening matches at the China Open, and World No 1 Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Danielle Collins absent from the draw, Pegula sensed her chances in Beijing.
“Because Iga and a lot of top players have dropped out, that’s a chance for other girls who, maybe, aren’t ranked as high, to pick up those points that they’re not going to get,” she said a few days ago. “We’ve seen, several times, people come out of nowhere and do really well.”
Next, Badosa will meet the resurgent Zhang Shuai, who has won 4 straight matches after losing 24 in a row, beating Poland’s Magdalena Frech, the 23rd seed and recent Guadalajara champion, 6-4 6-2.
“The big difference for me is the court, the surface, very different,” Zhang said. “At China Open, this court I think like Philippe Chatrier for Rafa. When I’m on this court, I have everything. Because I grew up from Tianjin, Beijing, I play this hard court more than 20 years every day.”
