'I know her struggles': Osaka inspired by Zhang's run to Beijing quarters

BEIJING -- Naomi Osaka flashed a bright smile when Zhang Shuai's name came up. Osaka had just tallied three consecutive wins for the first time in over four months to move into the China Open Round of 16. She knows a little bit about how quickly a player can get red-hot. She also knows a lot about the heartbreak that comes from losing. 

Beijing: Scores | Order of Play | Draws

So when Osaka was asked for her thoughts about No.595 Zhang Shuai's remarkable week in Beijing, which saw the 35-year-old snap a 24-match losing streak in the first round and add win after win with each round, Osaka got emotional.

"I feel like when I got on tour she adopted me, in a way," Osaka told reporters. "She's been incredibly nice to me this entire time I've been on tour. I have an extremely big soft spot for her. 

"It's hard for me not to be emotional when I see her doing well because I know her struggles and we've kind of struggled together, too. I love her a lot. I think she has such a warm heart."

On Tuesday, Zhang continued her inspired surge, defeating No.31 and recent Guadalajara champion Magdalena Frech 6-4, 6-2 in the Round of 16. Into her third career Beijing quarterfinal, Zhang is the lowest-ranked quarterfinalist in the tournament's history. 

Zhang has ended her drought emphatically. She has not lost a set in Beijing, posting wins over McCartney Kessler, Emma Navarro, her good friend Greet Minnen, and an in-form Frech, who had won her last seven matches. Zhang's win over US Open semifinalist Navarro was her first Top 10 win in two years. It's the first time she's won four consecutive matches since she made the final at 2022 Birmingham.

Zhang is now set to play her first Hologic WTA Tour quarterfinal in over two years, with the last coming at 2022 Tokyo, and the first at a WTA 1000 event since earlier that summer in Cincinnati. She will face No.19 Paula Badosa.

It has been a remarkable turnaround for a player who was running out of time. Zhang took a six-month break from the tour last year due to fatigue and injury and returned to competition this year with eight protected-ranking entries at her disposal. After the US Open, Zhang was down to one. Her coach requested a wild card from Beijing, which she received, and she used her last protected entry for next week's Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open. 

"Before this tournament I thought, Oh, my God, just two tournaments left," Zhang said. "I mean, I'm not superwoman with 24 [matches] lost.

"In two tournaments I came back to like my level. But I told you many of my friends in the tour, the players, coaches, every day they tell me, 'Your level still top.'

"But my ranking is 600. How can you trust 600?"

It's not the first time Zhang has gone from famine to feast. She famously lost her first 14 Grand Slam matches before stunning No.2 Simona Halep in the first round of the 2016 Australian Open. She parlayed that emotional breakthrough to make the quarterfinals. 

Osaka marveled at Zhang's resiliency. Losing 24 consecutive matches over a span of 20 months? Osaka couldn't get her head around it. 

"I can't relate to that because for me, that's extremely scary," Osaka said. "Losing two matches in a row gives me nightmares, so the mental resilience it takes to lose 24, I can't understand it. 

"It's a testament to how much she loves the sport, because I see her practicing every day after she loses or whenever we're at the same tournament. She's just a really pure person."

The genuine affection expressed by the entire WTA player body has been emphatic and loud this week as Zhang has progressed through the tournament. She has been inundated with hugs and congratulations in the locker room after matches. Even players who are not in Beijing have called her to celebrate. Zhang credits her friends and colleagues on tour for boosting her morale during her losing streak. After losses, her opponents and their coaches sought her out to praise her level and encourage her to keep going. 

"When I lost to Ashlyn Krueger at US Open, her coach (Michael Joyce) told me, 'You must continue to play singles, you can play really good," Zhang said. "Your level is still top. You can't quit. You must continue to play.

"He gave me a lot of motivation. He told me how good I am."

Zhang's doubles partner, Kristina Mladenovic has been one of the players who have been sending constant support remotely. The two engineered an incredible run to the US Open final earlier this month, teaming up to knock out three of the top five seeds. It was a run that gave Zhang further evidence that her level was there. She left for Asia in good spirits.

"Coming from Seoul to Beijing, every day she would send me messages to encourage me," Zhang said. "So these are really good messages to keep me up. I think a great friendship can bring me positive energy that can bring me up from a low point in my career."

After Zhang bested Minnen in the third round, the two shared a long hug at the net. Zhang told reporters that Minnen had been incredibly supportive of her over the years, going out of her way to offer Zhang and her coach rides to tournaments and a place to stay and train in Belgium when they were unable to return to China due to the pandemic lockdown.

"We are not enemies, like what you assume, like soldiers, warriors," Zhang said. "We're warriors on court. Off court we are not that aggressive. We also need comfort when we lose. We also need encouragement. When we are injured, sick, we also need help.

"So don't assume that we are all warriors. We are just ordinary girls."