Zheng ends Mboko's Paris run; predicts bright future for teenager

It was only four years ago that Zheng Qinwen surged on to the Hologic WTA Tour as a teenager with a hot streak at ITF level and a hunger to take down the biggest names in the sport.

So she was ready for what 18-year-old Victoria Mboko

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Mboko brought a 42-5 season record and an increasingly dangerous reputation into the contest. In the very first Grand Slam event of her career, the Canadian qualifier had not dropped a set in five matches; in her only two previous meetings with Top 15 players, she'd stretched both Paula Badosa

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However, Zheng was able to keep her nose in front through two hard-fought sets to reach the fourth round in Paris for the second time, and first since her 2022 debut. She will next face No. 19 seed Liudmila Samsonova

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View Profile 6-2, 6-3 to reach the fourth round of a major for the fourth time, and first time at Roland Garros. Samsonova, a finalist in Strasbourg last week, played a cleaner match, tallying 11 winners to 11 unforced errors compared to Yastremska's 27 winners and 26 unforced errors.

Zheng and Samsonova will both be bidding for a first Roland Garros quarterfinal berth; for Samsonova, a win would put her into the last eight of any major for the first time, while Zheng has previously made three Grand Slam quarterfinals. Samsonova leads the head-to-head 3-2, but Zheng won their only previous meeting on clay 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of Palermo 2021 -- her WTA main-draw debut match.

Mboko leaves Zheng impressed: Mboko wasn't just on Zheng's radar because of her 2025 results. In 2022, the year Zheng reached the last 16 in the main draw, Mboko made the third round of the junior event, and Zheng recognized her face again.

But this was the first time Zheng had encountered Mboko's game, and she was left seriously impressed.

"For sure she will be one of the best players in the future," she told press afterwards. "I'm 100% sure because she already got the strength, the game. There is nothing more I can say. I'm just really happy to win such a great player like her. She's really young. She has big potential ... She hits the ball really hard, and then she had a great serve. She had huge power. She moves on the court really well.

"It was honestly really tricky and tough match, because I know if my mental goes a bit down or lose focus, I feel she gonna turn around the match. I would say today I had one of the greatest tennis that I play here so far."

For her part, Mboko -- who pinpointed fitness and stamina as a key area of improvement following her three losses to Top 15 players -- repaid the compliments in kind.

"I find that she was dictating a lot," she said. "Especially I think she had a really great forehand that was able to open up the court a lot easier than I could. I think she has a really great serve, too. She has a lot of good accuracy. She was hitting a lot of lines."

Clutch play key for Zheng: As Zheng said, there were several moments in the match where momentum could have swung away from her. But whenever a potential turning point cropped up, it was the more experienced player who was able to elevate her game. Zheng converted four out of four break points, while Mboko could only take two out of eight opportunities.

The Chinese 22-year-old made the first move in both sets, leaving Mboko chasing the scoreboard. A series of booming forehands garnered Zheng the first break in the opener for 2-1. Though Mboko broke back immediately, Zheng regained the lead as a tentative approach shot from the World No. 120 enabled her to fire a forehand pass for 4-2.

The same pattern repeated in the second set: first a break by Zheng (courtesy of a pair of exquisite drop shots in the first game), then a strike back by Mboko, then -- a couple of games later, this time -- a third, decisive break by Zheng. Mboko had her opportunities to get back into the match, but was unable to convert a 0-40 lead in the eighth game, and sent backhands long on both her break points in the final game.

The last two games were played against the backdrop of a medical emergency in the crowd; play was able to continue, but paramedics continued to gather in the upper reaches of the court. Zheng expressed her sympathy for the audience member in question in her on-court interview.