Zheng subdues Samsonova to reach maiden French Open quarter-final

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Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 1, 2025 China's Qinwen Zheng in action during her fourth round match against Russia's Liudmila Samsanova REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

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Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 1, 2025 Russia's Liudmila Samsanova in action during her fourth round match against China's Qinwen Zheng REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

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Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 1, 2025 China's Qinwen Zheng in action during her fourth round match against Russia's Liudmila Samsanova REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

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Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 1, 2025 Russia's Liudmila Samsanova in action during her fourth round match against China's Qinwen Zheng REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

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Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 1, 2025 China's Qinwen Zheng shakes hands with Russia's Liudmila Samsanova after winning her fourth round match REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

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UPDATED Jun 01, 2025, 11:10 PM

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PARIS - Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen continued her French Open campaign in battling fashion as the Chinese eighth seed overcame Russia's Liudmila Samsonova 7-6(5) 1-6 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals at Roland Garros on Sunday.

Zheng swapped a pair of breaks with her 19th-seeded opponent in the opening set and fought back from 4-2 down in the tiebreak to get her nose in front before allowing big-hitting Samsonova to hold in a tense first game of the second set.

The Russian broke to love in the next game and struck again later to draw level in the match, leaving Zheng with a big fight on her hands to reach her maiden Roland Garros quarter-final at the site of her Paris Games triumph last year.

Zheng showed the mettle of a gold medallist, however, as the 22-year-old broke for a 4-2 lead and shrugged off a poor service game to get ahead 5-3 before securing victory when Samsonova made an unforced error.

"Right now I feel incredible because I've been dreaming of reaching this stage, it did not happen in 2023 and 2024. I have no words to describe my emotions right now," said Zheng, who dropped to the ground in celebration.

"The crowd helped me a lot, they gave me a lot of energy. I like to play in front of a lot of people. It gives me a lot of motivation. I hope I can stay longer in Roland Garros.

"It was an intense match. She put me under a lot of pressure and I ran a lot behind the baseline. But I have a lot of energy. I can play five sets if needed. My body is feeling great and I will push till the end.

Zheng takes on either world number one Aryna Sabalenka or Amanda Anisimova in the next round. REUTERS

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