On the tennis court, Zhang Shuai always surprises people again and again.

　　In the third round of the women's singles at the WTA1000 Cincinnati Station just ended in the early morning of August 19, Zhang Shuai defeated the world's second-ranked Estonian star Kontaveit 2-1 in a classic three-set battle and advanced to the quarterfinals.

　　From winning the women's doubles championship here last year to the breakthrough in women's singles this year, Zhang Shuai finally made it to the top eight in the 1000 singles after a lapse of four years.

　　"I saw a lot of my potential being stimulated." After the game, Zhang Shuai first thanked himself for his efforts.

And her performance once again proved that people who work hard will not have bad luck.

　　A victory by the inch

　　This victory is definitely not easy to come by.

　　In the first set, Zhang Shuai didn't make much resistance and was quickly defeated by a score of 2-6.

At this time, many people have long thought that there would not be too much suspense in this matchup between the second and the 44th in the world.

　　But Zhang Shuai did not give up, but struggled to equalize the score.

After coming to the final set, Zhang Shuai suffered a break-point disadvantage twice again, and then recovered twice and completed the go-ahead, which finally managed to win the victory.

　　Before the game, the record between Zhang Shuai and Kontaveit was 1 win and 3 losses. This year's Sydney Station just lost 0 to 2 to the opponent, but whether it is the disadvantage of the past encounter or the disadvantage in today's confrontation, it is the same. Couldn't stop Zhang Shuai's outburst.

　　Statistics show that Zhang Shuai's serve performance is not as good as his opponent's (ACE ball 3 to 5, double fault 4 to 3), and the efficiency of saving break points is also lower than Kontaveit (7 break points saved 2, opponents 9 break points) point to save 4).

　　In the fierce competition, Zhang Shuai only has a slight advantage in first-serving goal rate (71.3% vs. 65.3%) and scoring rate (58.1% vs. 57.6%).

In the whole game, both sides got exactly the same score, 94 points, but Zhang Shuai won in the end, enough to see the thrill of this game.

　　perform beyond your imagination

　　In fact, Zhang Shuai himself was a little surprised to be able to defeat a top player like Kontaveit under adversity.

　　In particular, the counterattack in the third set when he was behind was a classic battle in Zhang Shuai's singles career.

"When I was first broken by the opponent twice in the third set, I stimulated the greatest energy and the best state in the second half of the game, which exceeded my own imagination." Zhang Shuai told reporters after the game. .

　　"Usually she (Contavit) is a fighter on the court, and (she) won the game at the last crucial moment." But this time, it was Zhang Shuai, who was behind in the world rankings.

　　It was also through such a heart-wrenching duel that Zhang Shuai said, "I saw a lot of my potential being stimulated." And this game is even meaningful for her career.

　　Zhang Shuai has only reached the quarterfinals of the 1000 women's singles three times before, and the last time was at the China Open in 2018.

This is the fourth time in Zhang Shuai's career that she has entered the quarterfinals of the 1000 competition, and if she can go further, she will advance to the quarterfinals of the 1000 competition for the first time in her career.

　　At the same time, Zhang Shuai also ended his previous six-game losing streak against TOP10 players, and is the third time in his career that he has defeated the top two players in the world.

Previously, Zhang Shuai had only defeated world No. 1 Safina at the China Open in 2009 and Halep, No. 2 in the Australian Open in 2016.

　　The harder you work, the luckier you will be

　　"I'm very happy to have won the singles match. I haven't played such a high-quality match for a long time." Zhang Shuai also felt very happy about his performance in the game.

　　Not only the result of the game, but also the process of the game that made her happy: "Both of us played very well, for me not only the joy of winning the game, but also seeing myself in many aspects. Happy to make progress.”

　　Indeed, for the 33-year-old veteran Zhang Shuai, it is becoming more and more difficult to achieve good results in the singles arena, and more often she achieves dazzling results in the doubles arena - such as last year's Cincinnati Women's Doubles Championship, The US Open Women's Doubles champion and this year's Wimbledon Women's Doubles runner-up.

　　Recently, her singles record has been quite average. After the Wimbledon singles stopped in the third round, Zhang Shuai participated in four matches successively, and none of them could break through the second round.

　　But whether it was singles or doubles, Zhang Shuai never gave up: "I train hard every day, hoping to improve my shortcomings in many aspects through training, approaching high-ranked masters, and learning from their good things."

　　The harder you work, the luckier you get. This saying is appropriate for Zhang Shuai.

Behind today's victory, Zhang Shuai's own refusal to give up is naturally inseparable.

　　"Through today's game, I can see the accumulation of my long-term efforts in many aspects, and I am really happy to have such a good performance."

　　"I won the doubles championship here last year. This year, I can not only enter the main game directly, but also beat high-level players in a row. I hope I will also have good luck in tomorrow's game." After completing an excellent battle, Zhang Shuai He turned his attention to the challenge ahead.