After starting the 2024 season by reaching her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, Zheng played solid tennis through the spring, but suffered an injury as the clay-court season got underway, hindering her performance in Stuttgart in a second-round thriller with Kostyuk and forcing her to retire from her opening round against Yulia Putintseva in Madrid.
Looking much stronger in Rome, the 21-year-old from China’s Hubei province made quick work of American Shelby Rogers and rallied from a set down to defeat No. 29 seed Linda Noskova to book her second career meeting with Osaka, who had beaten her in their only previous meeting on hard courts in 2022.
A notable wrinkle to the rivalry: Zheng had been working with Wim Fissette, Osaka’s longtime coach, through the 2023 season, but the two parted ways following Osaka’s decision to begin preparing for her comeback in the fall. Zheng is now working with Pere Riba, who was formerly with Coco Gauff’s coaching team during the American’s run to the 2023 US Open title.
“I know she’s always really tough to beat, doesn’t matter what surface it is,” Zheng said. “She won a lot of Grand Slam titles before, and it’s not easy to come back after being a mother. I’ve always had a lot of respect to players like this. I think today, I tried to give my everything on court and tried to fight. I’m really proud of myself, and I also want to say to Naomi that she did really good because not all players have this mentality to come back as a mother.”
The two exchanged breaks to open Monday afternoon action on Campo Centrale but Zheng, who typically struggles to deliver a high first-serve percentage, proved more consistent than Osaka, who managed just 27% in the opening set. Zheng took full advantage as Osaka failed to find her range on the outset and broke serve three times to claim the set in under 40 minutes.
Zheng kept up that momentum early in the second set, easing ahead 2-0 with a break in hand and held on to 5-4 with a chance to serve for the match. After a service winner brought up two match points, Osaka complained to umpire Cecilia Alberti regarding a potential hindrance from Zheng, who let out a delayed grunt after striking the serve.
But Osaka receieved no relief and Zheng, who allowed Osaka just eight winners in two sets, converted her second match point she outrallied Osaka to reach another quarterfinal in Rome. She will face either No. 3 seed Coco Gauff or Paula Badosa for a spot in the semifinals.
