A bad draw? Zheng Qinwen faces the top seed in the Miami fourth round!

The 2026 Indian Wells tournament has concluded all events. In the highly anticipated men's and women's singles finals, Italian star Jannik Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev via two tie-breaks, with the entire match lasting nearly two hours. With this men's singles title, Sinner finally achieved the feat of winning all hard-court Masters tournaments.

“This feeling is fantastic; it's a huge achievement. Today's match was actually very tough, so I'm glad I handled all situations well on court.” The champion Sinner also felt his opponent Medvedev performed very well.

In women's singles, Aryna Sabalenka lost the first set 3-6 but then won two consecutive sets, ultimately defeating Elena Rybakina with a 2-1 overall score. In this match, the current world No.1 in women's singles once saved a match point, and after the match she needed ice packs to cool down due to cramping issues.

“I want to thank my team, for always being with me, always supporting me, and for listening to all the nonsense I say during matches. Thank you for being so strong.” Sabalenka expressed this in her championship speech.

After the Indian Wells tournament concluded, the same-level Miami event followed immediately. Among them, Chinese player Zheng Qinwen, as the top domestic tennis player, her draw and performance are eagerly anticipated by fans.

As the No.23 seed in this year's Miami women's singles event, Zheng Qinwen continues to enjoy a first-round bye. Her second-round opponent will be determined between two American players: Brady and Stephens.

If she wins in the second round, Zheng Qinwen could face in the third round either the winner between No.15 seed Keys and Croatian player Ružić—the former is last year's Australian Open women's singles champion, the latter just defeated Zheng at Indian Wells. Whether Keys or Ružić, both pose significant challenges for Zheng.

Of course, if Zheng Qinwen performs sufficiently well in Miami to advance to the fourth round, the expected obstacle ahead would be the tournament's top seed Sabalenka; in subsequent rounds, seeded players she might encounter include Paolini or Svitolina in the quarterfinals, Rybakina or Pegula in the semifinals, and Świątek or Gauff in the final.

For Zheng Qinwen at present, more matches are needed to regain her form and touch. She is currently training actively at the Miami venue, but as widely known, training and actual match play are definitely two different things.

In the latest women's singles world rankings, the Asian No.1 position remains held by Elena Rybakina. After reaching the final and securing the runner-up position at Indian Wells, her world ranking rose one place to No.2 globally. Following her are:

No.15 Naomi Osaka

No.26 Zheng Qinwen

No.29 Iga Świątek

No.34 Wang Xinyu

No.40 Zeng Limei

No.61 Zhang Shuai

So, who do you think will be the Asian women's player advancing furthest in this Miami tournament?(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)