Zheng halts Mboko's run to book place in Roland Garros second week

Zheng Qinwen booked her place in the second week of Roland Garros for the second time after ending 18-year-old qualifier Victoria Mboko's run in straight sets. She will next play Liudmila Samsonova, with a first Roland Garros quarterfinal at stake for both players.

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 would bring to Court Simonne-Mathieu in the third round of Roland Garros -- and, now the No. 8 seed and reigning Olympic gold medalist, was able quell it, advancing 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour and 26 minutes.

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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 and Coco Gauff to three sets.

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, who defeated former Australian Open semifinalist Dayana Yastremska 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.

Amazing recovery from Zheng to deliver this cross-court perfection 💪#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/ebETT8HAD4 — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2025

Clutch play crucial for Zheng: Mboko, who went toe-to-toe with Zheng from the baseline, left her higher-ranked opponent impressed.

"I feel she played really well and I think we pushed each other to play our best tennis," Zheng said in her on-court interview. "We had some really good points, it was not an easy match."

But whenever a potential turning point cropped up, it was the more experienced Zheng who was able to elevate her game. She 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.

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