Olympic tennis gold medalist Zheng Qinwen returns a shot during her women's singles quarterfinal match against Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris on June 3, 2025. Photo: VCG

Olympic tennis gold medalist Zheng Qinwen lost to world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in the women's singles quarterfinals at the French Open on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old Zheng broke first in the first set before Sabalenka came back to win a tiebreaker. The top seed Sabalenka maintained the momentum in the second set to seal the victory.

Although Zheng lost the match, she showed plenty of bright spots, especially in the early stages of the first set, where her form and momentum almost pushed Sabalenka to the edge, Pan Shouhu, a former Chinese Tennis Association coach and a national second-level athlete, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

"It was a clear sign that Zheng is fully capable of holding her own against top-tier opponents in high-intensity matchups and even putting them under pressure," Pan noted.

However, according to Pan, the loss also revealed some recurring issues in Zheng's game, such as handling key points, maintaining consistency on serve, and a few costly double faults and unforced errors that gave Sabalenka too many second chances. "Against the current world No.1, such mistakes, especially when they come in clusters, are tough to recover from," he said.

Zheng has delivered her best performance at the French Open by reaching the quarterfinals. She also became the second Chinese player to reach the French Open quarterfinals, following Li Na's title run in 2011.

After the match, Roland Garros' official account on Sina Weibo, China's X-like platform, wrote, "The red clay of Paris remembers your brilliance. We look forward to seeing you again next year."

"It was a true battle and I had no idea how I could break her back and get back into the first set. I didn't start well and I'm glad I found my rhythm and won," said Sabalenka, who now takes a step closer to her maiden French Open title, Reuters reported on Tuesday. 

"I think we're all here for one reason. Everyone wants that beautiful trophy. I'm glad I have another opportunity, another semifinal to do better than last time," she said, adding, "I really hope that by the end of the clay-court season I'm really proud of myself."

Before this match, Sabalenka won her first six meetings with Zheng, including at the 2024 Australian Open final. However, Zheng earned her first victory over the Belarusian in May - on clay - in Rome.

"It's always tough matches against her," Sabalenka noted when looking forward their latest meeting at a press release.

"She's a great player. Of course, I expect a great battle, and I'm super excited to face her in the quarterfinals. I want to get my revenge. I want to get this win after Rome, so I'm happy to face her in the quarters," Sabalenka said before their latest meeting.

On Sunday, Zheng reached the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 6-3 victory over Russia's Liudmila Samsonova, recording her best result at Roland Garros. 

When looking ahead to their Roland Garros meeting, Zheng said, "On clay, I feel a bit more comfortable than she does, but she's the world No.1. She's done very well, and she's a very tough opponent. I'll just focus on giving it my all until the last point and see what happens. No matter what, I'll fight until the very end."

The 22-year-old made her Roland Garros debut in 2022, pushing eventual champion Iga Swiatek in a hard-fought fourth-round match that ended 6-7 (5/7), 6-0, 6-2.  

"While she didn't reach the semifinals this time, the gap between her and Sabalenka is clearly narrowing. After all, Zheng beat her in Rome, proving it's not a question of whether she can win, but rather how to manage nerves and reduce fluctuations under pressure. That's the next step in her evolution," noted Pan.

In his view, compared with 2024, Zheng appears much more composed mentally. Even in defeat, she fought for every point and never gave up. That kind of competitive maturity is rare, and incredibly valuable.

"It's also worth noting that her live ranking has now risen to No.5 in the world, firmly placing her among the elite. That's not just a reflection of her talent, but of her consistent performance over time," he said.