Zheng Qinwen Photo: VCG

China's tennis ace Zheng Qinwen revealed on Sunday night that winning a Grand Slam title was her childhood dream after she reached the last 16 of the WTA 1000 event at Indian Wells, the US for the first time in her career after edging past Sun Lulu of New Zealand 6-4, 7-5. 

Having secured two consecutive victories for the first time this season, the 8th seed Zheng will next face Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine on Tuesday. 

During the post-match interview, when asked about which would be more important to her, a Grand Slam title or the World No.1 ranking, the 22-year-old player said, "No doubt, Grand Slam. Because this is a dream I've had since I was a child." 

After a rough start to the 2025 season, the return of Zheng's coach Pere Riba and her recovery from an elbow injury will put her season back on track, Liu Yu, a ­Beijing-based sports commentator, told the Global Times on Monday.

"It can be seen that Zheng is still regaining her footing on the court, but the return of her coach provides a timely boost. Playing with an elbow sleeve on her right arm, her serve is not 100 percent, the victory against Sun showed her efforts in bouncing back from recent challenges," Liu noted. 

Zheng made a slow start to the 2025 season with three straight second-round exits as her coach Riba was sidelined due to a hip surgery. 

In Riba's absence, Zheng was knocked out in the second round of the Australian Open by Laura Siegemund of ­Germany before suffering early exits at the Qatar Open and WTA 1000 Dubai in February.

Zheng revealed that after the defeat in Melbourne, her elbow had suffered an injury. "I still have an injury and I played with a slight pain. It affected me occasionally and I am not fully recovered," she said.

Riba reunited with Zheng ahead of the Indian Wells event. Having received a first-round bye, the Olympic champion Zheng overpowered former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the third round on Friday.

Going up against Sun, who stunned Zheng in the first round of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships and became the first player from New Zealand to reach the quarterfinals at the tournament in the Open Era, Zheng didn't stumble this time.

"I hadn't forgotten my loss against Sun last time and I wanted to fight back and try to be better," she said after the match. 

Zheng showcased her powerful baseline game and aggressive shot-making, ­dictating the pace throughout the match. Despite causing Zheng some trouble with her powerful serves, Sun lost the first set 4-6.

The second set saw Zheng take an early lead, breaking Sun's serve right from the start to go up 2-0. At 2-2, a slip on the court momentarily halted Zheng's momentum. 

Shaking off a scrape on the knee from the fall, Zheng remained composed and tightened her control in the final stages of the set, preventing Sun from mounting a comeback. 

Meanwhile, China's Wang Xinyu was eliminated from Indian Wells after a straight-set defeat to 4th seed US athlete Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-1 in the third round on Sunday.