Zhang Shuai had lost 24 consecutive matches before her three-match winning run in Beijing (Image: Getty)
A tennis player who embarked on a remarkable losing streak has secured her third straight victory to reach the latter stages of her home tournament on Sunday.
Zhang Shuai arrived at the Beijing WTA 1000 event in dismal form, incredibly and tumbling down the rankings as a result.
Her previous victory had come way back in January 2023 when she beat Madison Brengle 6-3, 6-2 at the WTA 250 Lyon Open. Prior to that, she made it to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open before bowing out to Karolina Pliskova and was ranked 22nd in the world.
??????❤️?????? Thanks , you have been waiting for while ….. dreaming no matter how old you are , the dreams forever young
— Shuai Zhang (@zhangshuai121)
Now ranked 595th in the world in singles, the 35-year-old finally ended her miserable 20-month wait for a win when she stepped back onto the court in China.
She beat Mccartney Kessler 7-6 (5), 7-6 (1) in the first round and then in round two.
Many would have expected her fairytale in Beijing to end against Greet Minnen, but the veteran produced a mighty performance to down the Belgian 6-2, 6-3, playing some superb tennis in the process.
Zhang Shuai is back on form after going 20 months without a victory on the WTA Tour (Image: Getty)
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Zhang hit 29 winners and just nine unforced errors in a dominant victory, as well as landing 80 per cent of her first serves in.
But she was in no mood to gloat about beating Minnen, instead telling a heartwarming story about how her opponent helped her get through a tough time on the road.
“Actually we are very good friends. As you all know from 2019 I didn’t go back home for three years. I played tournament after tournament, almost like I didn’t have a home to go to,” Zhang said.
Greet Minnen helped Zhang Shuai during a difficult time in her career (Image: Getty)
“During a tournament in France she reached a doubles final, I reached a singles final. She [Minnen] played first and she said she’ll wait for me because in a small city, going to the next tournament is not that convenient.
“She had went to that tournament in a car and she said ‘no matter what time you finish I’ll wait for you’. So after I finished, she brought me and my coach with a car full of luggage, taking many hours to bring me to the next tournament.”
The Tianjin-born star will now face Magdalena Frech, the 23rd seed, in the round of 16 as she aims to get one step closer to taking the trophy.
Zhang will be hoping to resurrect her career after languishing near the bottom half of the WTA rankings. But in the doubles, the two-time Grand Slam winner remains a force to be reckoned with.