Fortune swing
Fortune swing
“In tennis, sometimes one plus one can equal three”
Tennis has a way of surprising you most weeks. This week was a lesson in how quickly fortunes can change in this game.
I recently spoke to a tennis coach who put this in simple terms for me. “In tennis, sometimes one plus one can equal three - many things can happen, without you understanding why,” they said. “This sport, it’s not mathematics.”
Based on the numbers, China’s Zhang Shuai was basically down and out this time last week. Now, she is flying.
Zhang had once hovered just outside the world’s top 20, but was now entering the China Open ranked 595th. Unenviably, she owned tennis’s longest losing streak for the past 52 years, suffering 24 consecutive losses in competitive matches. Yes, you read that right: 24. Those losses spanned 603 days, including a six-month injury lay-off, and many desperate weeks spent travelling the world to no avail.
Imagine losing in the first round at every single tournament you enter for nearly two years. At 35 years old, Zhang would have been forgiven for wondering what was the point. Arriving at the Beijing WTA 1000 event, she was the player with the worst luck in tennis.
But fast forward to today, and the tennis is not math-ing: Zhang won four matches in a row without the loss of a single set and is into her first WTA 1000 quarter-final in two years. “When you are barefoot, you have nothing to lose. Just step on court, just play,” she told the media afterwards.
And that she is doing. Her run has included a huge upset over world No 8 and US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro, winning 6-4 6-2. On Tuesday, she blasted 39 winners to 24 unforced errors against Magdalena Frech to reach the quarter-final. Those stats suggest a remarkable level of confidence, not that of someone who has struggled so much in recent years.
Zhang’s story stood out to me this week, firstly, because it gave me some much-needed positive vibes, and secondly because it highlighted one particular beauty of tennis: that the slate is wiped clean practically each and every week. Well, sort of.
Sure, losses can and will lead to plummeting rankings. That will impact which tournaments you can easily enter. Losing will also inevitably pull you down mentally, as Zhang knows all too well. “I had no idea [if] I should continue playing singles or stop,” she said this week. “Continue and maybe another 10 more match losses waiting for me. Very tough almost two years without any winning.”
But on the other hand, a bad run in tennis does not have the same finality that it does in football, for example. It won’t chain you to the inevitable consequence of relegation. Nor will it make you vulnerable to transfers, or even being dropped entirely, as bad performances would in most team sports. In tennis, if you keep persevering, all you need is that one result, or one week — and perhaps a cushy wild card at your home tournament, as Zhang had this time — to experience a sudden swing in momentum. Zhang had to show particular patience, but she was finally relieved of the burdensome streak, and avoided becoming an eternal punchline.
There is a certain irony that Jannik Sinner’s 15-match winning run was brought to a spectacular end on the same court in Beijing, during a brilliant final against Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday morning. But whereas winning streaks often feel more fragile and easily broken (especially as we journalists often pester and poke players about them - guilty!), losing streaks gain weight and become more cumbersome as they snowball.
In team sport we have seen plenty throughout history. This past season the Detroit Pistons equalled the record of most consecutive NBA defeats, with 28. From January 2003 to September 2005, Sunderland infamously lost 20 Premier League games on the trot (including a year’s layover wedged between, where they were relegated to the second tier). It was brutal for their fanbases and the teams themselves, but at least they had each other to commiserate with.
Meanwhile Zhang was toiling away alone on that court. Tennis is often described as the loneliest sport, and Zhang must have felt that each time she stepped out to play. To cope with the constant losses and injuries, she says she got up early each morning so that she was the first person on the practice courts. It was a way to find some sense of control and power no doubt, during two seasons of certain helplessness.
As a two-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist in her own right, this abysmal run of losses in singles might have made her wonder if her career had peaked, and whether this depressing decline might mark the end. How her spirit was not completely shattered is beyond my comprehension.
Her doubles form helped ease the frustration, as she reached the US Open final with partner Kristina Mladenovic last month. She credited her coach, Mladenovic, fellow players and friends for continuing to believe in her when she lost her own belief in her abilities. She is now proving them right for sticking by her.
That dogged desire and perseverence so many tennis players seem to possess helped her claw her way back into the world’s top 250 in the live rankings this week, and perhaps eke another spurt of success out of her once world-weary racket.
"When you’re losing, maybe everybody wants to play against you,” she said. “Now nobody wants to play against you."
Whether she beats Paula Badosa on Thursday or ends her tournament in the last eight, the curse is finally broken. All runs end and, as relentless as tennis can feel sometimes (as a player, and as a person trying to follow this sport!) there’s something special in the fact that there’s always another tournament next week to turn things around.
Recommendations
I recently read the book Venus Envy by tennis journalist Jon Wertheim, where he charted women’s tennis during the entire 2000 season. The insight, access and level of behind-the-scenes reporting is pretty incredible. In some senses, it is of its time, but so much of it remains relevant and it’s fascinating if you want to understand more about the impact the Williams sisters had on their direct peers when they were still breaking into the sport.
In other news, tickets for the Uefa Women’s Euros next year in Switzerland (2nd-27th July 2025) went on sale this week. More info here. While we’re at it, I’ll be at the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup Finals this November in Malaga, and I know I’ve got some readers in that part of the world. Find info on tickets for the BJK Cup here and Davis Cup here.
A big thanks to everyone who upgraded to a paid subscription last week! It means a lot. I’m extending the 50% discount for 48 hours for anyone else who is interested in doing the same.
Thanks for reading!
Molly x