Chinese tennis fans have wondered whether it was time for Zheng Qinwen to retire and urged the Olympic champion to seek psychological help after losing in the opening round of the tournament again on Monday.
Two weeks after losing in the first round of the French Open on the clay of Roland Garros, Zheng was knocked out on the grass of the Andy Murray Arena at The Queen’s Club in London.
A semifinalist at the same HSBC Championship a year ago, the former Chinese No. 1 lost 6-4, 7-6 to world No. 38 Jaqueline Cristian of Romania.
It was the third time in seven tournaments this year that Zheng has not made it past his opening match.
The loss also caused Zheng’s straight rankings on the WTA tour to drop to No. 159, after being ranked as No. 4 in the world a year ago.
Starting his season at No. 24, Zheng saw his ranking drop outside the top 50 after a round-of-32 exit in Rome in May. Another blow followed when Zheng lost to finalist Maja Chwalinska in the first round of the French Open, sending the Hubei native out of the top 100.
