The 2022 Australian Open has entered the semi-final stage, and Zhang Shuai and his partner Pierce have unfortunately stopped in the final four in the mixed doubles match. With Zhang Shuai's exit, All Chinese athletes were eliminated at this Australian Open. As the only player in the Chinese team to wear all three sports, Zhang Shuai played particularly hard in this competition. The results of the women's singles promotion to the round of 16 and the mixed doubles to the final four have far exceeded the pre-match expectations for Zhang Shuai. The biggest regret is the women's doubles competition, as a former champion, Zhang Shuai was unable to reach the top in Melbourne again with his partner Stosur.
Judging from the performance of Chinese players, Zhang Shuai is undoubtedly the most eye-catching Chinese golden flower in this competition. At the age of 33, for women's tennis players, it is already a physical limit, and Zhang Shuai needs to take into account women's doubles and mixed doubles in addition to preparing for women's singles events, which puts forward higher requirements for her physical fitness, injury protection and competitive status. Thanks to Zhang Shuai's outstanding performance, in the final week of the Australian Open, fans were able to continue to see the Chinese players. In the mixed doubles semi-finals, Zhang Shuai could have reached the final with his partner Pierce in history.
But an uninvited pouring rain completely extinguished China's dream of holding up the mixed doubles Grand Slam championship trophy. From the perspective of the game, Zhang Shuai and his partner were well prepared, facing Mladenovic and Dodiger, Zhang Shuai and Pierce, as the No. 2 seed of the tournament, took the lead in the first set. But then the two lost the opportunity to get their hands on it one after another, and the decisive game of resuming the battle after heavy rain was completely lost. In the end, it was reversed by the opponent and did not qualify for the runner-up battle of the mixed doubles championship of this Australian Open, and many fans felt sorry for Zhang Shuai's loss.
It is worth mentioning that before, Zhang Shuai and his partner have joined forces three times to reach the final four of the Grand Slam mixed doubles, but all stopped in the semifinals. After losing the mixed doubles, Zhang Shuai also ended the Australian Open trip. In an interview after the game, she said that although she did not reach the mixed doubles final, she was already very satisfied with the performance of this competition, which would be of great benefit to future preparations. Since Li Na, the glory of Chinese women's tennis has gradually dissipated. Although Wang Qiang, Zhang Shuai, Zheng Saisai and other new generations of Chinese golden flowers have also brought surprises to the Chinese people in the four Grand Slam competitions many times.
But so far, no one has been able to reach the Grand Slam singles final. Wang Qiang and Zhang Shuai are both over 30 years old, and the last two or three seasons may be the "last dance" of their entire tennis career. After these two core figures, young players such as Zheng Qinwen and Wang Xinyu will take over the banner. At the 2022 Australian Open, China's Jinhua has created the best results in the history of recent Grand Slams, sweeping away the haze of the collective defeat of the Tokyo Olympic Games. What do you say about the performance of Chinese women's tennis players at this Year's Australian Open?
(Luo Treasurer)