Zheng on Loss: I Got Tight, Gave it Away

"I think mostly it's on my hand," Zheng Qinwen said after losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the Roland Garros quarterfinals.

By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Photo credit: Antoine Couvercelle-ROLEX

Zheng Qinwen showed a strong sense of self belief capturing the Olympic gold medal on Court Philippe Chatrier last August.

Today, Zheng said self-sabotage cost her shot at the Roland Garros semifinals.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka stopped Zheng 7-6(3), 6-3 to reach the Roland Garros semifinals—and avenge last month’s Rome loss to the Olympic gold-medal champion.

Afterward, Zheng said nerves cost her the match.

Zheng led 4-2 and was at 30-all on Sabalenka’s serve—two points from a double break—when she blocked a routine backhand volley into net. Zheng said those types of mistakes—and five double faults—showed the jitters.

“I think I'm just getting tight because it's the French Open quarterfinals,” Zheng said. “I think doesn't matter who I face.

“I will be really tight because I have so much hungry in French Open, and then I think this can make me performance even not best, and it's maybe not, I will say, today I don't even perform at 60, 70%.”

 

 

 

 

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It is Sabalenka’s 11th career major semifinal, including her ninth semifinal in her last 10 Grand Slam tournaments as she continues her hunt for a maiden Roland Garros crown.

The top-seeded Sabalenka, who improved to 7-1 lifetime vs. Zheng, praised the eighth-seeded Chinese for a gripping battle.

"She played incredible tennis. She's a great player, and I expected her to play a great match," Sabalenka said of Zheng. "I enjoyed this battle. I enjoyed that I had to come back in that first set, and the first set was, like, really tight. It could go either way.

"So I was really enjoying it. I'm super happy that I got win in straight sets."

In a rematch of the 2024 Australian Open final, Zheng said she felt she lost the match more than Sabalenka won it.

“I think maybe during the match I should play a bit more aggressive, and I think in the first set I made a lot of, you know, easy mistakes,” Zheng said. “I give her the chance so easy. Of course, I think mostly I made a match lose.

“I think mostly it's on my hand because already I did some double fault in the first set when I'm leading with my service game. But, yeah, it's tennis. There's nothing more I can do.”



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