Wang Qiang celebrated her comeback for the second win. In the match against Thailand's Talarud, Wang Qiang won in straight sets. It is worth mentioning that she won both sets from behind, including 2-5 in the first set, showing the demeanor of China's former first sister.
In the second round of the ITF Shenzhen W50, Wang Qiang faced the No. 7 seed of the event, Thailand's 19-year-old Talarud. The latter, currently ranked 259th in the world, reached the semi-finals of the Kofu W50 this season and defeated Ma Yexin in the Australian W35 to win the title.
Wang Qiang is known to have reached the top 8 at the US Open, and her previous highest world ranking was 12th. However, since the Tokyo race in September 2022, she has been out of action due to injury and illness and has not officially returned until this year. As a result, she came back to Hua Hin 250 in the first round, and she won 1-6 and 1-6 Wang Xiyu in the first round. After returning to China, Wang Qiang won a wild card to participate in the Shenzhen competition, and swept Qu Shulu 6-1, 6-1 in the first round, winning the first victory in the comeback professional competition. However, due to the limited strength of the opponent, how much Wang Qiang's strength and state have recovered remains to be tested.
Facing the Thai youngster, Wang Qiang took the lead in breaking serve as soon as she started, but she unexpectedly lost 4 points in a row in the second game and was broken back by her opponent. In the sixth game, she lost three points in a row in the opening game and managed to save two break points, but she double-faulted in the final minute and was broken again to fall behind 2-4. In the crucial 8th game, Wang Qiang finally found her touch and held serve smoothly, and broke the belt to protect 4 games in a row in the subsequent game, thus winning 7-5.
In the second set, Wang Qiang almost replicated the process of the first set, breaking first and then being broken by her opponent in a row. In the crucial 7th game, she finally completed the break. In the 11th game, she took advantage of her opponent's double fault gift to break serve again, and finally won another set 7-5, defeating her opponent 2-0 and advancing to the top 8 for the first time in the season.
The fight took 2 hours and 18 minutes, Wang Qiang had 3 aces and 1 double fault, while her opponent had 6 double faults. In addition, Wang Qiang scored 68% of her first serve, 59% of her first serve points, and cashed in 6 of her 10 break points. Importantly, with this victory, she gained 11 points and regained her world ranking, where she is currently ranked 1108th. Will she be able to get back to the top?