Zheng Qinwen retires in second match after elbow surgery: "I want to save my body"

Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen's comeback tournament at the China Open ended abruptly on Monday when she retired from her third-round match against Linda Noskova.

Zheng had previously admitted that she was playing at "80%, 70%" of her powers in Beijing after beating Emiliana Arango in the second round in her first tournament since undergoing right elbow surgery in July. The load reached critical mass two days later in a hard-hitting clash against Czech No. 26 seed Linda Noskova, where Zheng retired in the third set with Noskova ahead 6-4, 4-6, 3-0.

📺 Stream live Beijing coverage on the Tennis Channel app

Zheng later told reporters after the match that the rigors of WTA 1000-level competition may have been too much too soon.

"I start to feel a bit more, which is normal," she said. "I already expect that. So I decided when the pain's going higher, [so I] don't damage the area, I should stop.

"I've been keep thinking on in the second set, so I keep pushing, pushing, until I say, like, OK, that's it."

Zheng said she will await the results of an MRI to determine her next steps for the remaining weeks of the season. She was a semifinalist in Beijing a year ago and won her hometown WTA 1000 event in Wuhan before finishing as runner-up to Coco Gauff at the year-end WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia.

"[It was] really rush decision for me to playing here," she said, noting that she planned to manage playing with pain. "But also is the right decision for me because I want to see where my body is right now."

"I remember last year in Olympic Games I was going full. I say if I have to break something, I going to break my body right now," she added. "But today is more like I want to save my body. I have lot of doubt in me. I think that's why I cannot show up my full level still."

Zheng was one of five players to retire mid-match in the China Open third round, along with Paula Badosa, Lois Boisson, Barbora Krejcikova and Camila Osorio.