China's Zhang Shuai is making a remarkable comeback after breaking the longest losing streak in tennis at 52 years.
The player, currently ranked 595th, ended a challenging run of 24 straight losses that spanned over 600 days at her home tournament, the China Open.
Zhang achieved her first victory since January 2023 by defeating American McCartney Kessler, who is ranked 65th.
She then achieved a surprising win against eighth-ranked US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro, allowing her to progress to the third round.
This win marks her as the lowest-ranked player to beat a top-10 opponent in the tournament's history.
In the Open era, only one woman has lost more consecutive matches than Zhang's 24 (excluding the Billie Jean King Cup); Madeleine Pegel lost her first 29 matches from 1968 to 1972.
Zhang, who is the lowest-ranked player ever to compete in the main draw of the China Open, won 6-4, 6-2 in Beijing on Friday and will face either 28th-seeded Russian Anastasia Potapova or Belgium's Greet Minnen next.
