Peng Shuai became the new sister of Jinhua

Peng Shuai kissed the trophy and she won the WTA Tour singles title for the second time. Photo/Visual China

After ending the embarrassment of 6 consecutive Asians, Peng Shuai's career entered a stable period. Yesterday, at the WTA Jiangxi Open, Peng Shuai won the second crown of his career with a 2-0 victory over Nichibi Nozomi. This week, Peng Shuai's world ranking will come to 23rd, once again approaching the 14th place of personal high ranking. For the rest of his career, Peng Shuai hopes to break this record, "If you can break through the 14th place of the highest individual, there should be no regrets." ”

Race conditions

Nanchang Fudi won the second crown

In 2014, Nanchang hosted a wta $125,000 event, and Peng Shuai won the first championship. Three years later, the tournament was upgraded to the $250,000 Jiangxi Open, and Peng Shuai won the championship again. For Peng Shuai, Nanchang is a blessed land.

In the past week, Nanchang has been sweltering and hot, and the organizing committee has had to move electric fans to the stadium. Unexpectedly, on the last match day, Nanchang suddenly fell heavily, and the women's singles final between Peng Shuai and Japanese player Ribi Nobi no Caixu was postponed by nearly two hours.

Fortunately, the rain did not affect the progress of the game, and Peng Shuai did not receive much challenge in the whole game, defeating the world's 92nd place Hibi Wild Vegetable 6-3, 6-2. "It was the first time I played with her and I was still a little nervous at the start and I lost several chance balls." Peng Shuai said that from the third inning, he played his own rhythm and speed, coupled with some tactical changes, and then took control of the game.

This year in Nanchang, Peng Shuai's state is low and high. In the first round against the Japanese, Nairokuro stayed in the United States, and Peng Shuai spent nearly 3 hours to get through. After that, Peng Shuai's road to promotion was smooth, and he easily won the championship with successive victories over Zhu Lin, Han Xinyun, Hibino Caixu and others.

This is the second tour singles title of Peng Shuai's career, and her first career title was won at last year's Tianjin Open. Prior to this, Peng Shuai had folded in the finals of the tour for 6 consecutive stops. After completing the breakthrough, Peng Shuai's record in the tour final was 2 wins and 1 loss, and the only 1 defeat was to Svitolina at this year's Taipei Open.

"In the previous 6 wta finals, there were actually some opportunities, but because of the impromptu performance, mentality or opponent strength, etc., the final result was not too good. This is supposed to be the first time I've faced a player lower than me in the final. Peng Shuai said that he was very happy to win the second championship of his career, "I am really very happy, I want to thank myself for not giving up at that time." After the operation, I would like to thank everyone for their help and also thank you for your persistence. ”

rebound

Surpass Zhang Shuai to ascend to the throne of a sister

In addition to the $43,000 championship prize money, the Jiangxi Open champion also brought Peng Shuai to 23rd in this week's world ranking, surpassing Zhang Shuai at no. 29 to become Jinhua's new sister. 23rd, this ranking is close to Peng Shuai's 14th personal high ranking set in 2011.

Last season, Peng Shuai, who returned from injury, spent several months looking for form, and did not recover until the second half of the season. At the end of the 2016 season, Peng Shuai was ranked 109th in the world. If you don't count the 2015 season, which is mainly based on recuperation, 109 is also the lowest year-end ranking of Peng Shuai in the past 13 years.

For a veteran over 31 years old, starting the new season with a hundred places away is not a small pressure. In the past 7 months, Peng Shuai's performance has been quite stable, in addition to reaching the final of the Taipei and Zhengzhou Open, Wimbledon has also reached the third round. After the Jiangxi Open, Peng Shuai's record this season is 31 wins and 15 losses, and the ranking has quietly risen to 23rd.

A month ago, Peng Shuai said in an interview with the Beijing News reporter that after returning from injury, he always had a goal in his heart, "If you can break through the 14th place of the highest individual, there should be no regrets." At present, Peng Shuai's world points are 1755 points, which is only 30 points away from 20th place Connew.

"Last year I discussed my physical condition with the doctor, and there are some places where I feel uncomfortable, and I still hope he can give me some help so that I can continue to play upwards." I really didn't expect to be able to complete the goal of returning to the top 30 now. Peng Shuai said that it is now 23, so he hopes to return to the top 20.

Due to the Rio Olympics, Peng Shuai was eliminated in the first round of the US Open last year. In the second half of the season, she only had 585 points to protect, and most of them were concentrated in Tianjin and Dalian. At present, Peng Shuai has confirmed that she will not participate in the individual events of the National Games, which gives her time to play the Perfect Net series in its entirety. With Peng Shuai's current body and state, there is a lot of room for points improvement.

Injury

Wimbledon back surgery

During this Year's Jiangxi Open, Peng Shuai revealed to the media for the first time that he had undergone another waist surgery after "seeing the stitches and inserting needles" after Wimbledon.

"After playing grass, my waist hurt more and more. In fact, during the previous surgery, the doctor told me that I might have such symptoms in the future. The doctor was able to cut the bulge, but my disc bulge could not be changed. Peng Shuai said that after going to Germany to check her body, the doctor suggested that she have another minor operation, "I went to the operation the next day, and just started to resume playing the other day." Now it's a bit like last year, some of the movements are not felt, but I have to do it all the time, keep doing it. ”

Compared with the last major operation, Peng Shuai's recovery period after surgery this time is shorter. "Last time it was a 3 to 4 month recovery period, this time it takes almost two months." Peng Shuai said that his physique is relatively easy to be injured, and his knees, waist, including feet have been injured continuously over the years.

In these days in Nanchang, Peng Shuai has to do acupuncture every day, "At this stage, I still have to rely on the doctor's help to alleviate it, and I can't recover myself." Peng Shuai said that one day she will stop because of injuries, but before that, she hopes to extend her professional life as much as possible.

"Compared to the points and rankings, I should focus more on how to continue to improve myself, such as serving skills, so that I can be more competitive against the top players." Entering the late stage of his career, Peng Shuai became more and more aware of the importance of the body, "At this stage, my ranking and confidence are in a good state, but I know that there will be more challenges in the future, and I can only continue to practice and go forward." Because the higher the ranking, the more fierce the competition I face, I need to be more prepared physically and mentally. ”

Special feature writing/Beijing News reporter Sun Haiguang

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