Zheng Qinwen makes a winning comeback in a comeback victory, Wang Xinyu to face Rybakina

On February 9 local time, the 2026 WTA 1000 Doha event proceeded with the opening round of the women's singles. The Chinese talent Zheng Qinwen, making her comeback after injury, fought for nearly two hours to defeat former Australian Open champion Kenin 4-6/6-1/6-2, earning her initial victory of this season!

Zheng Qinwen Photo: Visual China

This was Zheng Qinwen’s first official match since the China Open last year. In a pre-match interview, she said she had been following matches of Alcaraz, Sinner, and Djokovic during her break, studying their play styles, while among female players she watched Sabalenka and Rybakina closely. “These top players performed brilliantly at the Australian Open. Now it’s time for me to catch up. I can’t just be a fan watching from behind the screen anymore; it’s time to get back on court and work hard to beat them.”

In the third game of the first set, Zheng Qinwen was broken. Although she started several of Kenin’s service games at 30-0, she failed to convert those chances, losing the set 4-6. In the second set, Zheng gradually found her rhythm, earning a break point in the second game which she converted, then broke again in the sixth game and sealed the set with an ace at set point, winning 6-1 to even the match.

In the deciding set, Zheng’s baseline performance kept improving as she took control after breaking in the third game, eventually winning 6-2 to complete the comeback. Throughout the match, Zheng hit 20 aces and 43 winners, while Kenin managed only 8 winners. Zheng’s next opponent in the second round will be American player Parks, who upset the 15th seed Schneider in the first round.

Wang Xinyu Photo: Huang Shangyue

Earlier on court, another Chinese star Wang Xinyu, despite missing four match points after leading 5-2 in the second set, ultimately defeated Colombian player Arango 6-1/7-5. She will face the newly crowned Australian Open champion Rybakina in the second round!

Notably, this will be Rybakina’s first tournament since winning the Australian Open. The Kazakh star said in a pre-match interview that after claiming her second Grand Slam title, she celebrated briefly with her team and will not put too much pressure on herself in this event: “I hope to perform as well as I did in Australia this week. If not, there are many more tournaments ahead, many big events, so we will keep training hard to achieve good results.”

In other matches, 9th seed Noskova cruised past Jonte 6-4/6-0; 12th seed Navarro defeated T. Maria 7-5/6-1; Yastremska edged Buksha 6-4/4-6/7-6(5); qualifier Valentova beat Ella 7-6(6)/6-1, all advancing to the second round. Meanwhile, 11th seed Tauson lost 4-6/1-6 to Sniakova, exiting in the first round.

(Text and editing by Dato)