Zheng defeats Stephens 6-3, 6-2 to reach Miami Open third round

Both have been in the top five and endured chronic injuries. Thirty-three-year-old American Sloane Stephens won the 2017 US Open and reached a career high of #3. Qinwen Zheng from China was a finalist at the 2024 Australian Open and attained a career-high rank of #4.

Stephens sustained multiple foot injuries and, in 2022, underwent surgery on her left foot. Though she is currently ranked #717, she received a wild card into the main draw.  
Zheng, ten years Stephen’s junior, has struggled with her elbow and form since last summer. In mid-July, she announced she had surgery on her right elbow and would be out of commission for several months.

Though she returned to competition at the China Open last September, she was forced to retire during her third-round match due to elbow pain. Although she missed the 2026 Australian Open, she competed at the Abu Dhabi Open (l. Rybakina) and last week at Indian Wells (l. Ruzic).  She is currently ranked 26th and seeded 23rd.

[Photo/Agencies]

While Zheng has won both competitive matches to date, they have not faced off since 2022. Stephens won the toss and elected to receive while Zheng chose to change ends.
Zheng struck her first ace and held at love while Stephens hit a winning crosscourt backhand to level. Zheng opened the third with a double fault, yet managed to hold to 15 for 2-1. The 2017 US Open champ hit her first ace but gifted two double faults, faced two deuce and a break point but held for 2-2.

While Zheng has exemplary movement, she struggled on serve, missing five consecutive first serves, including another double fault to dump serve. Stephens was unable to solidify the lead and gave back the break following three consecutive unforced errors.

Zheng opened the seventh with her third double fault but held to 30 with two additional aces. Stephens, serving with new balls, began moving forward, extracting errors off the pass but donated a slew of her own, particularly off the forehand. She faced three deuce points, a break point, and, with a netted backhand, dropped serve. Zheng opened the ninth with her fourth ace and, with another, reached triple set point and converted with an unreturnable serve.

Stephens served first in the second, faced 0-30 and dropped serve following two consecutive winners from Zheng. The 23rd seed missed 3/5 first serves but consolidated the break with a monster serve up the tee.

Stephens slowly began to unravel and dropped serve following five additional errors, including her third double fault. Zheng made 4/6 first serves and held to 30 to consolidate the break for 4-0. Stephens, struggling to hold, donated another double fault and faced four deuce and a break point, yet held when Zheng overcooked the return.

Zheng opened the sixth with three consecutive winners, including two aces, and held at love for 5-1. Stephens, serving to stay in the match, made 5/5 first serves and held easily to 15, forcing her opponent to serve it out. The 2024 Aussie Open finalist did just that; serving with new balls, she secured victory with a colossal serve out wide.  

While the match was surprisingly subdued, Zheng overpowered her opponent on every metric. She won 84% of first and 65% of second serve points and converted 4/6 break points. She was equally proficient when returning, winning 36% of first and a staggering 74% of second serve return points.

In her next match, she’ll take on another American, Madison Keys. The 2025 Australian Open champion and former world #5 is currently ranked 18th and seeded 15th. This will be their second tour-level meeting. They last played in 2023 at the Citi DC Open, which Keys took in straight sets.