Zheng Qinwen beats Barbora Krejcikova to win Zhengzhou Open – ‘The feeling was unexplainable’

Zheng Qinwen said “the feeling was unexplainable” after she beat Barbora Krejcikova to lift the Zhengzhou Open title in her home country.

“When I was on the court finishing the last point, I was feeling super happy,” said the 21-year-old, who is set to move up to a joint-career-high No. 19 in the world rankings.

“All the crowd yelling for me, they supported me in full, in that moment, the feeling was unexplainable.

“It’s a lot of pressure, you could see in the match. In the first set, I was leading 2-0, [then] I lost six games in a row. There were a lot of ups and downs, but in the end, the important [thing] is to win the match, whatever happens.”

Zheng, who reached her first career Grand Slam quarter-final at the US Open, is the third Chinese winner on the WTA Tour this year.

Zhu Lin won the Hua Hin title, while Wang Xiyu was the champion in Guangzhou.

“Right now, I’m just feeling super happy and want to enjoy the time with my team,” she added.

“At the end, I’m really happy to win this match and to beat such a great opponent in the final.”

Zheng broke in the first game of all three sets against former French Open champion Krejcikova.

In the first set she lost six games in a row from 2-0 as Krejcikova moved towards her third title of the season.

But Zheng flipped the scoreline in the second set to level the contest.

The final set went back and forth as Krejcikova twice responded to being broken by hitting back immediately.

However, a third break for Zheng saw her move 5-4 ahead and she confidently closed out the win with a hold to love.