Zhang Shuai broke a record winless streak

Chinese tennis player Zhang Shuai (#595 WTA) finally broke her record streak of 24 consecutive losses. In the first round of the WTA home hard tournament in Beijing, she beat the 65th ranked player in the world, the American McCartney Kessler, in two sets.

The fate of both sets was decided on a tie-break. The match lasted 2 hours and 1 minute.

WTA Beijing. 1st round

Zhang Shuai (China) – McCartney Kessler (USA) – 7:6 (5), 7:6 (1)

For Zhang Shuai, this victory was the first in the main draw of the WTA tournament in the last 603 days. In 2023, she beat Madison Brengle at the tournament in Lyon.

Zhang Shuai’s 24-match losing streak became a record in the history of tennis. She rewrote the absolute anti-record for the number of consecutive defeats in the history of tennis. Before that, it belonged to Vincent Spade on the ATP Tour, who lost 21 matches in a row from October 1999 to June 2000.

24 – Shuai Zhang has won her first WTA main draw match since Lyon 2023 against Madison Brengle, 603 days ago, interrupting a losing streak of 24 matches. Deliverance.#ChinaOpen | @ChinaOpen @WTA @WTA_insider

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) September 25, 2024