Chinese tennis player Qinwen Zheng’s French Open bid ended unexpectedly as severe menstrual cramps and a leg injury for which she took a medical timeout in the second set lead to her losing to world no 1, Poland’s Iga Swiatek. Zheng, 19, had everyone awaiting a shock win as she claimed the opener in a tiebreak before slipping to a 6-7, 6-0 and 6-2 defeat."The first day is always so tough and then I have to do sport and I always have so much pain on the first day."I couldn't go against my nature. I wish I can be a man so that I don't have to suffer from this. It's tough."
In an 82-minute opening set, Zheng saved five set points, had two of her own and then clawed her way back from 2/5 down in the tiebreak to stun the top seed.It was the first set lost by Swiatek since April 23, when she was stretched by Liudmila Samsonova in the semi-finals in Stuttgart.As the 2020 Roland Garros champion's streak looked in peril, Zheng required a medical timeout at 0-3 in the second set for a leg injury.Zheng, who had defeated 2018 champion Simona Halep on her way to the fourth round, returned with her right thigh heavily strapped and quickly dropped the second set.Swiatek carved out a double break in the decider against her tiring opponent, whose physical problems contributed to her 46 unforced errors."The leg made it tough," added Zheng. "But that compared to the stomach was easy. I cannot play my tennis because my stomach was too much painful."I really give my best on the court, it's just tough."Swiatek extended her winning streak to 32 matches to equal the third-best winning streak this century set by Justine Henin 14 years ago."Zheng played amazing tennis," said Swiatek after reaching the quarter-finals for a third successive year.