Zheng Qinwen defeats 6th seed

In the first round of the WTA 250 Athens tournament, Chinese player Zheng Qinwen defeated the 6th seed Bouzas Maneiro 7-5, 6-1, securing her first victory after returning to hard courts. Following this win, Zheng Qinwen’s live ranking temporarily climbed to No. 127.

In the first set, Zheng Qinwen served first. After holding her opening service game, she broke in the second game and then held and broke again to take a commanding 3-0 lead. Maneiro held in the fourth game, and after both players held serve once more, Zheng Qinwen — leading 4-2 — was involved in a long deuce battle in the seventh game. Maneiro eventually broke back, then held and broke to level the set at 4-4. In the ninth game, Zheng held her serve. Maneiro managed to hold a must-hold service game to make it 5-5. Zheng held again, and this time Maneiro failed to hold her serve, allowing Zheng Qinwen to take the first set 7-5.

In the second set, Zheng Qinwen again served first. Both players continued to battle in the early stages, but Zheng eventually came through a series of tight games, holding and breaking to lead 2-0. She then cruised, holding and breaking repeatedly to extend her lead to 5-0. Maneiro held serve in the sixth game to avoid a bagel, but the outcome was already decided. Zheng Qinwen closed out the set 6-1, winning the match 2-0.

Zheng Qinwen had struggled during the grass-court season and suffered a first-round exit at the French Open, causing her world ranking to drop sharply. This match marked her first win back on hard courts. In her post-match interview, Zheng expressed satisfaction with her performance, saying: “I’m very pleased with how I played today. My opponent’s ball speed was really high, so it wasn’t easy to return. We both started the match very strongly, but luckily I was able to maintain my intensity. I’m very happy to have beaten such a strong opponent and to have played such good tennis in the first round.”