Paula Badosa had a heartwarming message for her China Open opponent. (Image: Sky Sports.)
Paula Badosa made a touching gesture after beating Zhang Shuai in the quarter-final of the China Open.
Zhang went on a 24-match losing streak in singles, dating back to January 2023. She and made it all the way to the last eight.
But Badosa ended her run with a 6-1 7-6(4) victory on Thursday. Afterwards, the Spaniard asked to send a special message to her rival.
Zhang has been the story of the week in Beijing. The Chinese tennis star received a main draw wildcard and made the most of it, ending her record-breaking losing streak in round one.
She didn’t stop there, upsetting world No. 8 Emma Navarro in the second round. And she continued her run, making it all the way to the quarters where she pushed 15th seed Badosa in a tight second set before losing.
Afterwards, Badosa used her on-court interview to pay tribute to Zhang, who took a lengthy break from the sport in the middle of her losing run and almost quit entirely.
“First of all, I want to say some words to Shuai,” the 26-year-old said when asked how she won the match.
Zhang Shuai ended her 24-match losing streak at the China Open (Image: Getty)
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“She’s amazing as a person, you can see the level today also. I’m really happy for her because I know she went through very tough times but it shows how much of a fighter she is.
“She’s great, her team is great, she’s always with a smile, even supporting me during the tour so it’s great to have a tennis player like her.”
Badosa also revealed that she urged Zhang not to quit tennis after ending her tough run. She added: “And what I told her in the net, that she shouldn’t retire because her level is really, really high.”
Zhang already appears to have given up on her plans to stop playing tennis after her heroics this week, though she was considering it at the start of the tournament.
Asked whether this quarter-final run was more special than 2018, she said: “Yeah, because this time when I coming to Beijing, I have a lot pressure and nervous because I already got 24 match lost.
“I have no idea how to win the match. Also I don’t want another one more lost, 25 coming, with all Chinese fans. I don’t know. When I think about this, I’m really sad.
“I don’t know. Walking back to the locker room, I don’t know I should continue or not before the tournament. When I start to thinking about this, I feel I have no idea I should continue my singles match or stop or continue or maybe another 10 more match lost waiting for me. Yeah, I mean, very tough almost two years, more than one and a half years, without any winning.”