Sawt Falasteen - 595th-ranked Zhang stuns US Open semi-finalist Navarro in Beijing

NYSE - LSE
RBGPF 7.49% 76.2 $
GSK 4.79% 51.15 $
BCC 4.07% 77.98 $
NGG 2.8% 85.22 $
AZN 2.71% 189.01 $
CMSC 2.5% 20.36 $
RIO 3.48% 84.56 $
BCE 2.7% 21.11 $
BTI 3.29% 62.97 $
BP -4.34% 45.61 $
RYCEF -0.06% 16.91 $
JRI 2.41% 11.64 $
CMSD 2.02% 20.27 $
VOD 4.05% 16.28 $
RELX 4.09% 41.08 $
595th-ranked Zhang stuns US Open semi-finalist Navarro in Beijing
595th-ranked Zhang stuns US Open semi-finalist Navarro in Beijing / Photo: Mike Stobe - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

595th-ranked Zhang stuns US Open semi-finalist Navarro in Beijing

The 595th-ranked Zhang Shuai, who earlier this week won her first match in more than 600 days, stunned US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro 6-4, 6-2 in Beijing on Friday.

Text size:

The 35-year-old Zhang reached round three of the China Open, where she is the lowest-ranked player to ever compete in the main draw of her home tournament.

On Wednesday, Zhang won her first singles match since January 2023 to snap a painful run of 24 defeats on the WTA Tour.

Coming into the prestigious WTA 1000 event as a wildcard, the former top-25 player defeated the 65th-ranked American McCartney Kessler in straight sets.

Zhang, a two-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist who has been plagued by injuries, repeated the feat with a surprise victory over the American sixth seed Navarro.

Zhang, who has won two Grand Slam doubles titles, faces the 28th-seeded Russian Anastasia Potapova or Belgium's Greet Minnen next.

Q.Bulbul--SF-PST