A feel-good story in sports is winning over the hearts of tennis fans this week as Chinese pro Zhang Shuai upset No. 2 Simona Halep in the first round of the Australian Open earlier this week. Prior to the upset, Zhang had lost every one of her 14 Grand Slam matches, with not a single victory in eight years.
Upon defeating the French Open finalist, Zhang burst into tears on the court and looked up to the crowd to see her parents, who had never watched her play until the Aussie Open.
Zhang, who was once believed to be the next Li Na, suffered a series of setbacks throughout her career and was on the brink of retiring from tennis altogether after failing to qualify for the US Open in September, according to the AP. But she decided to give it one last shot, saying:
"I'm feeling no, I want come back. I want to try one more time, only one more time. I will try last tournament at the Australian Open. If Australian Open not good, maybe I'll finish tennis."
Here's a video of Zhang overcome with emotion following the shocking upset (VPN on):
(VPN off):
The Tianjin native was ranked No. 133 and had to win three matches just to qualify for the tournament. She told media that winning was "a dream come true."
Zhang, who turned 27 yesterday, got a lot of love in a Weibo post wishing her a happy birthday. Commenters praised her performance, saying:
谁说张帅总是一轮游，又是谁嚷嚷要她退役的...我觉得我们欠张帅一个道歉！
"Whoever said she was always on tour and yelled that she needed to retire... I think we all owe an apology to Zhang Shuai!"
之前这么多的坎坷你都熬过来了，现在黎明才刚刚到来，请你不要退役，继续打下去
"Before you had so many ups and downs but you survived, and now dawn has finally arrived so please don't retire, keep on crushing it"
加油姑娘，不放弃就是最好的！
"You go girl, not giving up is the best!"
恭喜，再接再厉
"Congratulations, keep up the persistent efforts"
Zhang defeated Alize Cornet to move onto the third round, where she'll face Varvara Lepchenko next.
[Image via PCPOP]
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