by It was a mixed start to the Pan Pacific Open for Qinwen Zheng as she secured a win on the court but definitely lost in the fashion world. The 22-year-old won nine games in a row to secure a 7-5-6-0 victory over home favorite Moyuka Uchijima as she continues to prepare for next month’s WTA Finals in Riyadh.
It wasn’t all plain sailing, however, as Zhang was erratic early on and actually had to break serve to stay 4-5 in the first set before upping the ante and moving into the quarter-finals in just 76 minutes.
But she was indebted to her opponent for alerting her to a wardrobe malfunction before the match began.
As the pair posed for a photo before the game, Uchijima noticed that Zheng had left the tag on the back of her new outfit. She initially tried to take it off for the Chinese star, but she ran to the baseline before she could grab it.
However, the smiling 23-year-old managed to point out the accessory and Zheng was soon laughing herself when she realized the mistake. To the commentator’s amusement, she removed the tag just before her first serve of the match.
“Uchijima won the toss and chose to receive, but I think she just explained that she (Zheng) has a tag on the back of her outfit,” she said. “This is a beautiful moment.”
The WTA joined in on the fun on social media, posting on its official X account: “We’ve all been there, Qinwen…! Zheng’s opponent Uchijima points out that she left the tag on her top before her match.”
Tennis fans were also thrilled as @KashifRajpoot32 wrote: “Oh the pre-match fashion mishap! Zheng Qinwen adds realism to the pitch with a surprise pendant. Fashion statement or just a sneaky additional sponsor?”
The clip has now been viewed more than 55,000 times, but the focus on Zheng on Friday is likely to be more serious. She will face former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez in the round of 16 and will be looking to go one step better than in 2022, when she finished second to eventual winner Liudmila Samsonova.
