Home court hero Qinwen Zheng advances to fourth round after confidently defeating Nadia Podoroska

World No. 7 and national favorite Qinwen Zheng defeated No. 66 Nadia Podoroska of Argentina 6-3, 6-2 on Monday to advance to the fourth round of the China Open. Zheng played the match confidently from start to finish and comfortably won both sets in the players’ second-ever meeting.

The Beijing crowd was just as rambunctious as it was on Saturday, when Zheng notched her first-ever China Open win over Kamilla Rakhimova in straight sets. On Monday night, the Diamond Court erupted with noise after each point Zheng won, which only added to the 21-year-old’s confidence.

“I tried to use [the fans’] support not as distractive, but as more support,” Zheng said in her post-match press conference. “But I feel they already did much better than last year when I came to China. I'm quite happy with them.”

Zheng quickly took a 1-0 lead in the first set, but Podoroska responded strongly. She beat Zheng in the next game and raced out to a score of 40-0 in the third. However, after three break points and four deuces, Zheng put a backhand winner past Podoroska to go up 2-1.

In the fourth game, Zheng’s confidence shined in the return position. She battled to win a big rally at 40-30 to break Podoroska’s serve. Another ace helped on her way to 4-1 before Podoroska regained her footing and won the next game. However, the Argentinian couldn’t claw her way back into the set. Zheng won each of her next service games to win the set 6-3.

Despite the crowd’s vocal support, Zheng’s momentum faltered, and Podoroska won the first game of the second set. Zheng, however, looked dominant during her serve, and in the second game began a streak of 13 straight service points won.

While Podoroska was able to win the third game, Zheng finally broke the Argentinian’s serve in the fifth thanks to an impressive backhand winner. The No. 5 seed pressed on the gas, breaking Podoroska’s serve again in the seventh game to take a commanding 5-2 lead. Then Zheng’s favorite Chinese pop song came on during the break, and the audience responded by clapping along to the beat. Zheng could be seen smiling and laughing before she took the court again.

“I like to listen to songs with positive energy,” Zheng said when asked afterward about the experience. “I was really moved hearing the songs. It seems unreal.”

Zheng calmly won the eighth game, finishing the match in just under 80 minutes. The 21-year-old will face No. 34-seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States in the fourth round. The two have only met once before, with Zheng coming out on top in a three-set thriller in the first round at the U.S. Open on August 26.

"[Anisimova] is always tough to beat because she hits the ball really flat, and she's always being aggressive,” Zheng said. “I’ve got to be faster than today because I feel it's a really tough match for me to play against her.”

—Reporting by Reade Snelling