Chinese tennis star Wang Qiang makes a surprising comeback!

After nearly a year away from professional tennis, Chinese star Wang Qiang has finally returned to competition. We were delighted to see her enter this week's ITF 35K tournament held in Shenyang as a wildcard, facing the tournament's second seed Zheng Wushuang in the first round. At the same time, she teamed up with compatriot Guo Meiqi in the women's doubles event.

It should be noted that Wang Qiang's last singles appearance on the tour was at last year's WTA 500 Tokyo tournament qualifiers, where she lost in the first round to the 4th seed qualifier Sasnovich, suffering a streak of five consecutive defeats. Since then, she has not competed in any events, and her world ranking has dropped beyond the 900 mark.

Over the past year, Wang Qiang has stayed busy; besides occasionally attending commercial events, she also took wedding photos with her husband Zhang Hao in Xinjiang this August and announced plans for a romantic travel wedding.

As the leading figure in Chinese women's tennis after Li Na's retirement, Wang Qiang has left an indelible impression on fans. She started playing tennis at age 9 and turned professional at 14. Her first major career highlight was winning the women's singles gold medal for China at the 2014 Asian Games, defeating Thailand’s Kumchon 2-0 in the final.

In the following seasons, Wang Qiang gradually established herself on the tour. At the 2016 Shenzhen Open, she beat strong players Konta and Kimiko consecutively, reaching the WTA singles quarterfinals for the first time in her career; at the Australian Open that year, she secured her first main draw win by defeating Stephens in the opening round.

Wang Qiang’s real breakthrough came in the 2018 season, when she reached the round of 32 at the French Open for the first time in a Grand Slam, and then at the WTA 250 Jiangxi Open in Julyshe claimed her first career tour title, followed by successfully defending her women's singles gold medal at the Asian Games in Jakarta in August.

During the Asian swing at the end of the season, Wang Qiang seemed unstoppable, reaching the semifinals at the China Open, finishing runner-up in Hong Kong, and also runner-up at the WTA Elite Trophy (the small year-end championship). It was in 2018 that she first broke into the world top 20 rankings.

In the following years, Wang Qiang continued to achieve breakthroughs, including reaching the US Open women’s singles quarterfinals in 2019 and defeating Serena Williams in the third round of the 2020 Australian Open.

However, in recent seasons, injuries and other issues have prevented Wang Qiang from competing consistently on the tour. After a comeback in January last year, she played only a few matches. This week, ranked 916th in singles, she is competing in a lower-tier domestic ITF event, hoping to enjoy playing and bring exciting tennis to fans with a healthy body and spirit.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)