Tennis: China's Zheng Qinwen has elbow surgery, eyes early return

Beijing, July 19 (IANS) Chinese tennis player Zheng Qinwen, the Paris Olympic Games gold medallist, said on social media on Saturday that she has undergone successful surgery on her right elbow and is now recovering.

"During recent training sessions and competitions, I have been consistently bothered by pain in my right elbow," Zheng wrote in a post on her Chinese social media account, reports Xinhua.

"Although I persisted through interventions, the impact of the pain persisted. After diagnosis by elbow specialists, they recommended that complete minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery on the right elbow be performed as soon as possible to thoroughly resolve the issue."

"After careful discussion with my team, in order to return to the court in the best possible state as soon as possible, we decided that surgery was the best course. I completed the surgery yesterday, it went very smoothly, and I am in recovery," added Zheng, who also won the gold medal at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Zheng also stated: "In the coming period, I will focus my efforts on rehabilitation training, striving to return to the court at 100 percent as soon as possible. This brief adjustment is for a stronger comeback in the future. Thanks, everyone, for your support and patience. Please wait for me to return to full strength, we will meet on the court."

Zheng suffered a first-round exit at the recently concluded Wimbledon tournament and subsequently withdrew from the WTA 500 event in Washington on Thursday.

Earlier this season, Zheng reached a career-high No. 4 in the WTA singles rankings.

She had reached the final of the Australian Open in 2024 and was also the runner-up at the season-ending WTA Tour Finals. She also defended her title at Palermo in July, defeating second seed Karolína Muchová in three sets in the final.

Earlier this year, Zheng failed to replicate her success in the Australian Open and lost in the second round. She reached the semifinals of the Italian Open.

--IANS

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