On June 24, in the women's singles final of the 2024wta500 Berlin Station, the Chinese pair Zheng Saisai and Wang Xinyu defeated the combination of Zhan Haoqing and Kudermetova and won the cup for the first time in the event. They danced with the ball boys on the Berlin "Plaza" dance". This Berlin 500 women's doubles championship trophy is the best reward for Zheng Saisai, who has been away from the court for three years due to injury and has not given up her dream of tennis after five surgeries.
After winning the women's doubles, Zheng Saisai posted on her personal social media: "It really means a lot to me to be able to stand here today and win the championship trophy in Berlin! After a long and difficult battle with a wrist injury, After the struggle, I’m back!”
At the women’s singles final of the National Games in September 2021, Zheng Saisai kept flexing his racket midway through the match with Wang Qiang. In the second game, Zheng Saisai called a medical timeout. In the end, Zheng Saisai announced his retirement due to injury.
Zheng Saisai then chose to undergo wrist surgery. But Zheng Saisai revealed that in the following time, she underwent five surgeries. "In the past two years, surgery has become my normal treatment method. After each surgery, there is a long recovery, and then another surgery is waiting for me. At the beginning, I was full of expectations for my return, and gradually, I had to Accepting the possibility that I may never be able to play with a racket again, I think the easiest moment in this difficult journey may be when I am under anesthesia and leave everything to fate. The painful moment is of course the longest and most painful. The wait is unknown, because it is an incision on the hand and requires a long natural recovery process. No one can accurately tell me what the outcome of this operation will be," Zheng Saisai said.
After the fifth operation, Zheng Saisai was slowly able to touch the ball during the recovery process. This also gave her renewed confidence to return to the tennis court. Zheng Saisai and Wang Xinyu once formed a partnership in the 2021 season and jointly won the trophy at the WTA Courmayeur station. During Zheng Saisai's recovery period, she joined Wang Xinyu's coaching team and advised Wang Xinyu. During this period, Wang Xinyu partnered with Xie Suwei and won the French Open women's doubles championship for the first time.
In the 2024 season, Zheng Saisai has reached a level where he can compete. "For the first time in more than two years, I can play harder, and gradually find a little bit of the feeling I have had playing for many years. These small improvements are a surprise to me every time! It feels like I am learning to play again, and re-learning how to play. After all the accumulation of tennis in my past, the progress and changes in skills from youth to professional, especially many of my game habits and my own experience, I need to find it bit by bit. This process is amazing, like I am searching for it every day. I am learning and gaining experience every day,” Zheng Saisai said.
Zheng Saisai and Wang Xinyu reunited. In this year's Miami 1000, the two won their first victory together. At the Rome 1000 in May, the two reached the semi-finals of women's doubles. At this Berlin station, the fourth event the two competed together finally won the championship. Zheng Saisai's women's doubles ranking returned to 75th, and Wang Xinyu returned to 32nd. Wang Xinyu collected all-court women's doubles titles on hard courts, clay courts and grass courts. Zheng Saisai won the 6th women's doubles championship in her career.
During Zheng Saisai's career, she won championships in both the singles and doubles stages of the WTA500 level competition. This sixth doubles championship after comeback is extremely important. "I have always believed that I will make a comeback. The title I won in Berlin was a bit of a timely help. It came so timely, which made me even more sure that I will gradually regain the lost touch and confidence." Zheng Saisai said. At present, Zheng Saisai and Wang Xinyu have qualified for Wimbledon women's doubles. Zheng Saisai said that she is looking forward to more exciting stories in the future. "The long suffering of the operation made me reborn, and the story continues!" Zheng Saisai said.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Chu Peng
editor/Xu Zhao
