Day 8 at the US Open. Ladies’ round of 16. Zhang Shuai (1989-; 5’10”, 2003; $8.9m) is playing Coco Gauff (2004-; 5’9″; 2018; $4.8m) on the center court, the Ashe Stadium. So far it is a good match. Coco was born a year after Zhang turned pro.
Zhang’s career isn’t as promising as Coco’s. In 2016, she even thinking of retiring due to 14 failed attempts in the main draw. She took her mother to Australian Open … however, she beat Simone Halep in the first round and advanced to the quarter. The good result encouraged her to remain in the game, and won a couple of slam doubles (2019 Aussie and 2021 US) with Stosur.
Zhang vs Gauff (r of 16) is pretty good. Both plays well. Coco was born a year after Zhang turned pro. Zhang’s career isn’t as promising as Coco’s and she almost retired in 2016 due to poor results… Now, two slam’s doubles titles and, a very confident player. I watched Coco here in 2019 when she reached the 3rd round. It was a night game and we went nuts for her. She was little (only 15 at the time), reminded me of Degas’ Little Dancer. I didn’t realize that Zhang grunts too, till now.
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