Stronger with age, 36-year-old Zhang Shuai reaches the third round of the China Open!

The main focus of this week’s tour is the championship contest at the 2025 China Open. Being a top-tier tournament held in China, the organizers demonstrate a preference for homegrown talent through wildcard distribution and event arrangements. In recent days, many local players have made appearances.

Among them, veteran Zhang Shuai, born on January 21, 1989, stands out as especially familiar and approachable. As a true veteran, this year marks her 19th professional season on the circuit.

Regarding Zhang Shuai’s participation history at the China Open, it is particularly rich. In 2009, she made a stunning upset by defeating then-world No.1 Safina, making a name for herself. That year also marked her debut at the China Open, where she advanced to the third round in singles.

Counting from 2009, Zhang Shuai only missed the China Open in the 2023 season. From 2009 to 2019, she competed in the tournament for eleven consecutive years. During that period, her best result came in 2016 when, as an unseeded player, she defeated Stosur, Riske, and the 4th seed Halep to reach the quarterfinals at the China Open for the first time in her career.

In the quarterfinals that year, she faced her longtime rival [11] Konta but lost 4-6, 0-6, missing out on the semifinals. The tournament champion that year was the 3rd seed A. Radwanska.

Zhang Shuai’s performance at last year’s China Open was also impressive. Entering the main draw as a wildcard, she narrowly defeated Keßler 7-6, 7-6 in the first round. In the second round, she caused an upset by beating the 6th seed Navarro 6-4, 6-2.

In the third round, she swept past German player Minnen, and in the fourth round, she continued her strong run by defeating the 23rd seed Frech 6-4, 6-2. This marked the second time Zhang reached the singles quarterfinals at the China Open, where she then lost to [15] Badosa.

This year at the China Open, Zhang Shuai is again competing as a wildcard. She battled through three sets to eliminate qualifier Zakharova in the first round. In the recently finished second round, she defeated [31] Wang Xinyu and advanced to the third round, where she will face [3] Anisimova.

“Actually, I don’t have any specific strategies when playing now; I basically just play how I feel. I think being myself is the best approach. Everyone’s life is like this—sometimes overthinking only restricts you.”

When asked about her consistent good results at the China Open, Zhang Shuai admitted she doesn’t really know why. Out of the 52 weeks in a year, she only performs well during these two weeks. “Mainly because I feel I need to work harder and be more focused when playing in front of everyone.”(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)