One event that has attracted particular attention this week is the WTA 500 Merida, where a good result for Navarro and Badosa would mean that Zheng Qinwen will fall further down the rankings.
Just yesterday, the quarter-finals of Mérida were officially announced, and there were no surprises as the top two seeds, Navarro and Badosa, both progressed. However, it is worth mentioning that as long as Badosa can advance to the semifinals of women's singles, it can surpass Zheng Qinwen in terms of points and rank eighth in the world. Top seed Navarro, on the other hand, will have a tougher time, as she is currently ranked 11th in the world and will have to reach the final to earn more points and move up the rankings. In addition, if Badosa and Navarro meet in the women's singles final, it means that Zheng Qinwen will at least fall to the top 10 in the world, just one step away from falling out of the top 10.
In this women's singles 1/4 finals, Badosa showed a very good competitive momentum as soon as she came up, taking the lead in the first set with a good sense of service and a baseline point attack, and established an early lead. After successive breaks, Bardosa took the first set 6-1. However, Badosa did not take advantage of the victory in the second set, and in the second set, Badosa's unforced errors began to increase, and the baseline became inadequate, falling behind 3-5 after suffering a break. Subsequently, after careful consideration, Bardosa decided to retire from the tournament to save energy for the next Sunshine Doubles.
With Badosa missing out on the semi-finals, it means that she has temporarily lost the opportunity to surpass Zheng Qinwen in the standings, and Zheng Qinwen has barely retained the world eighth ranking for the time being, but the current difference between the two is only 34 points.
In addition, in the other Women's Singles quarter-finals, top seed Navarro defeated defending champion Senmez 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals, where he will face Avanesyan in the next round. It is worth mentioning that as long as Navarro advances to the WTA 500 Merida final, he will be able to move from 11th to 8th, while Zheng Qinwen will retreat to 9th and will not be able to participate in the WTA1000 Indian Wells next week as a top 8 player in the world. However, fortunately, the top 32 seeds in Indian Wells can enjoy a first-round bye, so Zheng Qinwen can still rest for an extra round and appear in the second round.
At present, the good news is that Zheng Qinwen has posted a post confirming that he has arrived in Indian Wells, and also posted a beautiful photo of himself during the meal. Judging from the photos, Zheng Qinwen is in good overall condition and in very good spirits, coupled with the return of meritorious coach Pereriba, I believe that this Sunshine Doubles Match can end the three-game singles losing streak.
Judging from the current competition situation in the top 10 defense, the current world ranking points of the Chinese sister are only 3780 points, because she lost to Yuan Yue in the second round in Indian Wells and Azarenka in the second round in Miami last year, so she only needs to keep 75 points in the Sunshine Double Tournament this year. However, given that Navarro's situation is still pending and Andreeva is eyeing him behind him, he must come out in particularly good form and go as deep as he can, otherwise he may fall out of the top 10 after the Indian Wells game.
After almost three months of recovery, an elbow injury should not be a critical issue for now, nor should it be an excuse to lose. In terms of mentality, with the return of Pereriba, it should not be a big problem, as for business activities, it is Zheng Qinwen's own problem. However, what is still worrying is that with the return of Ribba, will the heart of the Chinese first sister be able to return from the sidelines to the field?
As one netizen said, "Yesterday, everyone saw her agent taking pictures together in the photo, and the background of the photo turned out to be Portland, Nike headquarters." From this point of view, Zheng Qinwen's team is on the way to participate in the WTA Indian Wells competition, and people have to wonder if they made a temporary detour to the Nike headquarters endorsed by Zheng Qinwen. I just want to say, after such a bad result, how can Zheng Qinwen still pay attention to these things? Distraction and wasting time will also affect her skills and tactics, if this situation is real, I believe it will also disappoint most fans. ”(Source: Tennis Home Author: Lu Xiaotian)