Naomi Osaka loses in Berlin to 'tough opponent' Qinwen Zheng, Katie Boulter withdraws from Birmingham Classic

ByJames Hilsum

Updated 18/06/2024 at 22:32 GMT

Qinwen Zhang continued her impressive progress in recent months with victory over former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka. The 21-year-old came through in three sets, 6-4 3-6 6-3, and afterwards paid tribute to her "tough opponent" as she qualified for the last 16. Later in the day, Ons Jabeur is also in action in Berlin, while British No. 1 Katie Boulter plays in Birmingham.

Qinwen Zheng claimed an opening win at the Berlin Open after coming through an entertaining three-set first-round clash against Naomi Osaka.

The 21-year-old showed impressive maturity against the former world No. 1, as the tournament’s sixth seed set up a second-round clash with Katerina Siniakova.

Speaking after her 6-4 3-6 6-3 win, Zheng said: “It was really hard because I got four match points and she served really well. Naomi Osaka is a great player, who has a strong serve and works hard.

WTA Berlin

Pegula saves five championship points to down Kalinskaya and win Berlin title

23/06/2024 at 14:08

“This win means a lot and it's never easy to play against her. I've played against her across all different surfaces: hard, clay, and now grass court.

“It's a tough opponent to have in the first round, but I'm happy that I did my best today and to get my first win in this tournament in my third year.

“This year I had good preparation, and I'm really happy to win my first match in Berlin because this is one of my favourite countries as well.”

Zheng was the first player to break as a double fault from Osaka yielded the opportunity for her opponent to deliver a powerful forehand and land the first telling blow of the contest.

The Chinese No. 1 was in fine form after she forced Osaka into another unforced error for a first set point.

But Osaka resisted impressively to swat that away, as well as another chance for Zheng to draw first blood, as she took a hard-fought hold at 4-5 down.

However, Zheng eventually secured the first set after a delicate drop shot following 41 minutes of play.

Osaka responded well though and matched Zheng every step of the way before taking a crucial break lead 4-2 in the second set.

She drew level after drawing a long return from Zheng, as she held all of her service games to wipe out the Chinese player's lead and take the match into a decider.

• Murray tips Draper to reach 'top of the world rankings' after becoming British No. 1
• 'Too much for the scheduling' - Sabalenka to skip Paris Olympics, Jabeur also withdraws

However, it was the world No. 8 who ultimately prevailed after taking an important break at 3-1 and would go onto win the match after a hard-fought hold in the ninth game.

This came after a fourth match point, as Osaka was defeated.

Boulter retires in Birmingham

Katie Boulter was forced to retire from her round of 32 clash with Anhelina Kalinina at the Birmingham Classic.

The British No. 1 defeated Karolína Pliskova to secure back-to-back Nottingham Open titles on Sunday evening, but she fell to a 6-3 defeat in the first set of her match with Ukraine's Kalinina.

Katie Boulter of Great Britain leaves the court after retiring against Anhelina Kalinina.

Image credit: Getty Images

Boulter competed in two matches in quick succession at the Nottingham Open and only had two days' rest before her match with Kalinina.

The 27-year-old was forced to take a medical timeout during a difficult first set and opted to withdraw from the match after the opener.

The world No. 31 admitted that she has been feeling unwell since Nottingham after the match.

"Obviously a long 10 days. I wanted to come up here anyway, I wanted to try, but I'm just not quite ready yet," she said.

"I was quite sick during Nottingham but I just tried to stay in the tournament as long as I possibly could, as bad as I was feeling.

"From my third match, I was really struggling. But I just tried to get through it and finish the week.

"It's probably a little bit of a combination of everything."

- - -
discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer.

WTA Berlin

Kalinskaya sees off Azarenka, will meet Pegula in German Open final

23/06/2024 at 10:44

WTA Berlin

Vondrousova retires in Berlin in big injury scare ahead of Wimbledon title defence

20/06/2024 at 20:12

Australian Open

'Remarkable' Sabalenka lauded by Henin and Robson after defending AO title

27/01/2024 at 12:31