BEIJING, Sept 29, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Zhang Shuai said she "felt like Rafa 
Nadal" after the home player ranked 595th powered into the last 16 to extend 
her historic China Open run on Sunday.

The 35-year-old wildcard had not won a singles match in more than 600 days 
when she arrived at the prestigious WTA 1000 event in Beijing last week.

Her run of 24 straight defeats was the longest such barren spell on tour 
since Madeleine Pegel lost her first 29 matches in 1968-1972.

Zhang, a two-time Grand Slam singles quarter-finalist who has been plagued by 
injuries, has now won three matches in a row after a 6-2, 6-3 defeat of 
Belgium's Greet Minnen.

Zhang, who faced Minnen as the lowest-ranked player to reach the China Open 
third round in the tournament's history, faces Poland's 23rd seed Magdalena 
Frech next.

"I had a long, long, long time not getting this feeling," said the former 
top-25 player Zhang, who has won two Grand Slam doubles titles.

"When I play my best I can win a lot of matches, I know that.

"I just want to keep it simple, keep going and keep winning."

Zhang snapped her losing run on Wednesday when she beat 65th-ranked American 
McCartney Kessler 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/1).

She then stunned US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro 6-4, 6-2 to reach round 
three and a meeting with 94th-ranked Minnen.

Zhang was on course for a third win in a row when she took the first set and 
went up a break in the second, only to relinquish the advantage immediately 
when the 27-year-old Minnen broke back.

As the match ticked past the hour mark, Zhang emerged from a gripping seventh 
game to break once more for 4-3, then held for 5-3 to put the next round 
within reach.

Zhang hails from Tianjin, near to Beijing, and said she felt very much at 
home on the hard courts of the Chinese capital.

So at home in fact that she compared herself jokingly to the Spanish great 
Nadal on his favourite surface of the French Open.

"When I am on the court I feel so like Rafa Nadal on Court Philippe-
Chatrier," she laughed

"When you're losing, maybe everybody wants to play against you.

"Now nobody wants to play against you."