On June 18, Beijing time, the first round of the women's singles at the WTA 500 Berlin station witnessed an exciting matchup. China's Zheng Qinwen hit 23 aces with amazing strength in this fierce competition, defeating Japan's Naomi Osaka with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, and achieving two consecutive victories against her this year.
Zheng Qinwen failed to seize the tie advantage to refresh his best record in the recently concluded French Open, and unfortunately failed to go further. For the upcoming Wimbledon, she chose to only participate in this tournament in Berlin as a warm-up and reserve strength for Wimbledon. And her opponent, Naomi Osaka, has been in the spotlight since her comeback after giving birth. She has four Grand Slam titles to her name, and her form has gradually picked up since her comeback. At the French Open in early June, she put in a stellar performance, even narrowly missing eventual Women's Singles champion Swiatek in the second round, showing what it takes to stand up to the top.
After the signing table was released, the showdown between Zheng Qinwen and Naomi Osaka became the focus again. This is the third meeting between the two in their careers and the second meeting this year. It is worth mentioning that in 2023, Zheng Qinwen's former coach Fisette suddenly switched to Naomi Osaka during the cooperation between the two, and this "digging into the wall" incident hit Zheng Qinwen hard. As a result, every duel between the two is particularly eye-catching.
In this game, Zheng Qinwen showed a very high level of competition. She won the first set comfortably, but suffered some twists and turns in the second set, and Naomi Osaka seized the opportunity to pull one back. However, in the crucial third set, Zheng Qinwen held his ground and held on to the victory with an excellent performance. Throughout the game, she blasted out the most aces in a single game of her career - 23, which fully demonstrated her strength and style.
Following her victory over Naomi Osaka in the Rome 1000 in May this year, Zheng Qinwen once again achieved a "double kill" against her in Berlin and reaped a good start to the grass season. This victory is not only an affirmation of her personal strength, but also a powerful boost to Chinese women's tennis. Next up, Zheng Qinwen will take on Czech Republic's Siniakova, and there is reason to believe that she will continue her good form and shine for Chinese tennis.