Tennis fans all know that Zheng Qinwen is far better than her current ranking. That she was a 32-seed at the Madrid Masters is logical, sure, but misleading. She is arguably the best 32-seed ever at the event. The only reason she is seeded so low is due to an elbow injury that forced her to miss many tournaments.
Elena Rybakina, meanwhile, the Chinese player's third-round opponent, has been playing some of the best tennis on the WTA tour for six months. As long as she serves with her normal bombast and doesn't suffer too many dips in play, she is on equal footing with anyone. So is Qinwen, though, if fully healthy.
In the first set, Qinwen was playing at her best form since her recent return, and this was all the more impressive as she is 1-3 in her career against the WTA No. 2, and hasn't beaten Rybakina on clay. Neither is a clay-court specialist, of course, but the Kazakhstani is more consistent on all surfaces.
Elena Rybakina defeats Zheng Qinwen at the 2026 Madrid Masters
Midway through the first set, Qinwen stunningly broke Rybakina, a player that rarely gets broken, with ease to take a 4-2 lead. She would go on to take the set 6-4 with metronomic ball strikes while putting Rybakina on defense constantly when Qinwen served.
The Chinese player was performing at a level that allowed her to win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. That tournament was held at the same location as the French Open. If the Chinese player could win that event on clay, she certainly should think she could win in Madrid.
In the second set, however, Qinwen suffered dips in form at the worst times. Not only did she have eight winners, but 21 unforced errors; she also committed five double faults. Three of those came with her serving down 4-5, and helped Rybakina get the break to take the set 6-4 and even the match.
In the third set, the players traded somewhat iffy holds through two games until Rybakina got a break to take a 2-1 lead. She was again helped by a double fault from Qinwen. Had the player fixed her serve, she might have won the match in two sets, but she was suddenly on the verge of losing in three because of the damage she had done to herself.
The shocking part is that the 32-seed broke back in the next game easily, only losing one point. The momentum of the match once again changed in favor of the Chinese player, who, if healthy, would be a constant in the top five on the WTA tour, most likely.
Of course, Rybakina broke back, as the match was tittering back and forth through the duration. The drama was high, but as Rybakina consolidated the hold and then got another break, the outcome was seemingly decided. The only question was whether she could keep holding serve.
She could. Though the game got to 40-30, Rybakina fended off a feisty Qinwen 6-3 in the final set to win her 27th match of the year to prove she is back to being a challenger in any tournament she enters.
Elena Rybakina will next face the winner of the Jelena Ostapenko and Anastasia Potapova match in the round of 16. The Kazakhstani should be the favorite as well, as she is playing through most of 2026.
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