Strong comeback! 37-year-old Zhang Shuai advances to the main draw of the Merida women's singles.

The 2026 season is now in its seventh week. Last week’s four tour events saw American standout Pegula win the WTA1000 Dubai title, while the men’s singles trophies at the ATP500 Rotterdam, ATP500 Dallas, and ATP250 Buenos Aires went to Deminal, Shelton, and Cerundolo respectively.

Among them, Alcaraz’s impressive performance in Doha stood out, as he dominated Fritz 6-2, 6-1 in the men’s singles final to secure his 26th career singles title. Notably, Alcaraz has reached the final in 12 out of the 13 tournaments he entered recently, winning titles in Monte Carlo, Rome, Roland Garros, Queen’s Club, Cincinnati, the US Open, Tokyo, and the Australian Open. The world number one’s form is truly remarkable.

Also commendable is Alcaraz’s balanced dominance across all types of courts, with his only upset last year being a second-round exit at the Paris Masters.

This week’s tour events continue, and the performance of Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai is also worth noting. Born in 1989, Zhang entered the 2026 WTA500 Merida tournament as the top seed in the qualifiers, and she powerfully defeated Peter and Trevisan in succession to reach the women’s singles main draw.

After winning two qualifying matches, Zhang earned 25 valuable ranking points and $12,700 in prize money, currently holding the 80th spot in the live rankings. According to the latest women’s singles draw, Zhang’s first-round opponent will be Lepchenko, who also advanced from qualifying. The winner of their match will face the tournament’s second seed Navarro.

The top four seeds in the Merida women’s singles this year are Paolini, Navarro, Ljubicic, and Bouzkova. Additionally, well-known players such as Stephens, Siniakova, Yastremska, Potapova, Rybakina, and Putintseva are also included in the draw.

The Merida women’s doubles draw shows that Zhang Shuai did not enter the doubles event this time. Among the Chinese players in the doubles draw are Tang Qianhui, Guo Hanyu, Xu Yifan, and Feng Shuo. We look forward to strong performances from these Chinese stars in this tournament.

Also held this week is the WTA250 Austin tournament. Compared to Merida, the lower-tier Austin event still boasts a strong player lineup. The top four seeds in women’s singles are Pegula, Jovic, Wang Xinyu, and Stearns. Wang Xinyu’s first-round opponent is qualifier Masarova.

Wang Xinyu is competing in both singles and doubles at this year’s Austin event, partnering again with Zheng Saisai in doubles. The Austin draw also features some exciting wildcard entrants, including Andreescu and Venus Williams.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)