Zhang Shuai beats a painful record

Tennisfan339

Tennisfan339

Professional
- Lyon 2023 R1 : W Madison Brengle, 6-3 6-2
1) Lyon 2023 R2 : L Maryna Zanevska, 6-2 6-0
2) Abu Dhabi 2023 R1 : L Anett Kontaveit, 6-4 6-7 6-4
3) Doha 2023 R1 : L Petra Kvitova, 7-5 6-2
4) Dubaï 2023 R1 : L Qinwen Zheng, 6-3 6-1
5) Indian Wells 2023 R1 : L Rebecca Petterson, 3-0 RET
6) Charleston 2023 R1 : L Julia Grabher, 6-4 1-6 6-3
7) Strasbourg 2023 R1 : L Anna-Lena Friedsam, 6-0 6-0 :eek:
8) Roland-Garros 2023 R1 : L Magda Frech, 6-1 6-1
9) Nottingham 2023 R1 : L Tatjana Maria, 6-1 6-4
10) Birmingham 2023 R1 : L Emma Bektas, 6-4 6-3
11) Eastbourne 2023 R1 : L Harriet Dart, 7-5 6-7 6-1
12) Wimbledon 2023 R1 : L Donna Vekic, 6-2 6-3
13) Budapest 2023 R1 : L Amarissa Toth, 6-5 RET
14) Warsaw 2023 R1 : L Tereza Martincova, 7-6 6-4
15) Prague 2023 R1 : L Yue Yuan, 6-2 6-2
16) Montreal 2023 R1 : L Anna Blinkova, 4-6 6-2 6-3
17) Dubai 2024 R1 : L Karolina Pliskova, 6-3 7-5
18) Indian Wells 2024 R1 : L Mai Hontama, 5-7 6-2 6-0
19) Miami 2024 R1 : L Daria Gavrilova, 6-4 2-6 6-4
20) Madrid 2024 R1 : L Shelby Rogers, 6-3 6-2
21) Wimbledon 2024 R1 : L Daria Kasatkina, 6-3 6-0
22) Cincinnati 2024 R1 : L Diana Shnaider, 6-1 6-4
23) US Open 2024 R1 : L Ashlyn Krueger, 0-6 6-1 7-5
24) Seoul 2024 R1 : L Veronika Kudermetova, 6-4 6-3
- Beijing 2024 R1 : W McCartney Kessler, 7-6 7-6

She recorded 24 consecutive defeats in the 1st Round between Lyon 2023 and Seoul 2024 (not counting qualifying and ITF matches), using a protected ranking. This is a new all-time record since the WTA was founded in 1973.
:cry:
 
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ollinger

ollinger

G.O.A.T.
Pro tennis record? No. Vince Spadea lost 21 straight a little over 20 years ago. (and I think you list 16 losses, not 20))
 
G

Gizo

Hall of Fame
It was a shame as she was so close to breaking into the top 20 and achieving her career best ranking, before this losing streak started, having reached the final in Birmingham, quarter-finals in Cincy, 4th round at the USO, semis in Tokyo and 4th round at the AO for example.

However she entered 33 events in 2022, including a series of 125k events / challengers at the end of the year (3 in consecutive weeks in December), and looked to be overplaying - she also played doubles in many of those events as well. She also played 125k events in mid-December 2021, so was basically playing non-stop for a while without a proper break (when well into her 30s). That surely took its toll.

She lost her her first 14 grand slam main draw matches during her career from 2008-2015, with numerous unsuccessful qualifying campaigns in and around then, before reaching the quarter-finals in her 15th appearance at the 2016 AO.

Abigail Spears also lost in 20 consecutive matches from 2005-2006, but that streak included qualifiers and ITF as well. Zhang’s losing streak has only included WTA main draw matches plus the United Cup, with her not playing in qualifiers or ITF / challenger events during that period. Rankings don’t always tell the full story of course, but she was officially higher ranked than her opponent during 12 of the 20 defeats.
 
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Tennisfan339

Tennisfan339

Professional
Just edited the thread and I'll edit it as long as she keeps losing. Just extended her losing streak to 21 in Madrid. If Ollinger's stat about Vince Spadea is correct, I guess Zhang only needs one more loss and she'll break the all-time record.
 
T

tennis3

Hall of Fame
Tennisfan339 said:
If Ollinger's stat about Vince Spadea is correct, I guess Zhang only needs one more loss and she'll break the all-time record.
Click to expand...
Vince has vowed to come out of retirement to defend his record if necessary

MV5BMjEzNTk5NDAxMl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjcwMjIzMQ@@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg
 
AO13

AO13

Hall of Fame
Oh yeah, the girl that got robbed by that incredibly unsportsmanlike player (was her Romanian or Bulgarian?) and had a mental breakdown after the player cleared the mark before supervisor checked it, so she had to retire the match, resulting in sheer joy of that other clown of a woman.

Put all this aside, obviously she has some mental problems which are disabling her from playing her top tennis, as tennis is primarily mental game.​
 
Aussie Darcy

Aussie Darcy

Bionic Poster
Zhang has also struggled because she had been unable to return to China to see her family due to Covid restrictions. I remember back in June/July she said she hasn’t seen them in 3 years which is just insane to think about. She may have seen them now but it’s no surprise she’s been struggling. Especially when you think of what happened to her countrywoman Peng Shuai…
 
darthrafa

darthrafa

Hall of Fame
maybe i am wrong
but it shows she should have trained more specifically if she wishes to win at least one round
 
Tennisfan339

Tennisfan339

Professional
Bump

Just edited it after her Wimbledon first round loss (with another baggel in the process).
Means she has officially beaten Spadea's number with 22 consecutive defeats!
 
jm1980

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
tennis3 said:
This article says 21 straight losses tying Spadea. How much longer can she play under her protected ranking?

www.sportskeeda.com

Wimbledon 2024: Zhang Shuai equals record for worst losing streak in tennis history after 1R exit

Zhang Shuai's horrendous run on the WTA Tour has only gotten worse as the Chinese star lost her 21st singles match in a row after a first-round exit at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.
www.sportskeeda.com www.sportskeeda.com
Click to expand...
Players are entitled to eight entries with a protected ranking. She's used four of them so far, so she has four more to go, which she can use until February or March 2025, not entirely sure on that one

I'm assuming two of those will be used at the USO and the AO because of the massive first round prize money
 
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V

vokazu

Legend
I think her performance started to crumble after she got robbed a point in a match and the opponent deliberately erased the ball mark and smirked.
 
Mustard

Mustard

Bionic Poster
jm1980 said:
Players are entitled to eight entries with a protected ranking. She's used four of them so far, so she has four more to go, which she can use until April 2024.

I'm assuming two of those will be used at the USO and the AO because of the massive first round prize money
Click to expand...
April 2024 finished over 2 months ago. You mean April 2025?
 
jm1980

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
Mustard said:
April 2024 finished over 2 months ago. You mean April 2025?
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's 52 weeks after the player returns to competition. In her case, I'm actually not sure what counts. It's probably Dubai (Feb 2024), but it could be IW (Mar 2024).
 
T

tennis3

Hall of Fame
vokazu said:
I think her performance started to crumble after she got robbed a point in a match and the opponent deliberately erased the ball mark and smirked.
Click to expand...
She erased the mark after another point had been played. And this was after waiting for Zhang for 7 minutes. You might say it was a bad "visual" for Toth, but by that time she was both laughing and pretty fed up with Zhang's histrionics. And obviously, after playing another point, nothing is going to happen to change the ruling. In fact, it's pretty common to rub out marks after points are over (as this one was).

Nobody said anything against Toth on the court when it happened. If what she did was wrong, wouldn't the Chair or the Supervisor have penalized Toth. Wouldn't they have at least said something? And if the Chair and Supervisor are both corrupt, conspiring against Zhang, wouldn't the WTA have stepped in to punish them? But none of that happened.

As for the call itself, as the commentator says, it "might have caught the outside of the line". The umpire looked at the mark and made a ruling. You can disagree with the ruling. But that has nothing to do with Toth.

Toth did apologize for erasing the mark, but that was more to appease the Social Media Frenzy. I doubt she thinks she did anything wrong. Bear in mind, this was Toth's FIRST EVER WTA Tour win. You'd think Zhang could hold it together enough to beat a player ranked around 400. Let's just imagine if a highly ranked Male Player did what Zhang did (especially playing against a player ranked around 400). Would we be sympathetic with him? I doubt it.

Zhang was the problem here. You can disagree with a line call. You can disagree with the Umpire and call for a Supervisor. But at some point, you have to "just get on with it", as the commentator himself kept saying over and over (maybe he was part of the "conspiracy" against Zhang? Probably).

But judge for yourself.

 
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No_Kwan_Do

No_Kwan_Do

Semi-Pro
tennis3 said:
Zhang was the problem here. You can disagree with a line call. You can disagree with the Umpire and call for a Supervisor. But at some point, you have to "just get on with it", as the commentator himself kept saying over and over (maybe he was part of the "conspiracy" against Zhang? Probably).

But judge for yourself.

Click to expand...

Toth got unfairly brigaded upon for that. Clips were taken out of context and paraded around social media. As you say, the umpire called a mark out when it was clearly in, Zhang got the supervisor, who advised her that nothing could be done and the decision had been made, and to move on. Toth then went over to clean the mark a couple of points later as is her right, as she's on that side of the court, and wanted to play the next point. Zhang then kicked up a massive fuss and walked off the court.

I remember top 10 tennis players actually weighing in publicly on their social media accounts * cough Sakkari cough * calling for her to be banned from the tour before she deleted it. Pretty disgraceful for athletes with tens of thousands of followers to be doing that essentially encouraging their fans to brigade a player barely ranked in the top 400.
 
Shaolin

Shaolin

G.O.A.T.
Tennisfan339 said:
- Lyon 2023 R1 : W Madison Brengle, 6-3 6-2
1) Lyon 2023 R2 : L Maryna Zanevska, 6-2 6-0
2) Abu Dhabi 2023 R1 : L Anett Kontaveit, 6-4 6-7 6-4
3) Doha 2023 R1 : L Petra Kvitova, 7-5 6-2
4) Dubaï 2023 R1 : L Qinwen Zheng, 6-3 6-1
5) Indian Wells 2023 R1 : L Rebecca Petterson, 3-0 RET
6) Charleston 2023 R1 : L Julia Grabher, 6-4 1-6 6-3
7) Strasbourg 2023 R1 : L Anna-Lena Friedsam, 6-0 6-0 :eek:
8) Roland-Garros 2023 R1 : L Magda Frech, 6-1 6-1
9) Nottingham 2023 R1 : L Tatjana Maria, 6-1 6-4
10) Birmingham 2023 R1 : L Emma Bektas, 6-4 6-3
11) Eastbourne 2023 R1 : L Harriet Dart, 7-5 6-7 6-1
12) Wimbledon 2023 R1 : L Donna Vekic, 6-2 6-3
13) Budapest 2023 R1 : L Amarissa Toth, 6-5 RET
14) Warsaw 2023 R1 : L Tereza Martincova, 7-6 6-4
15) Prague 2023 R1 : L Yue Yuan, 6-2 6-2
16) Montreal 2023 R1 : L Anna Blinkova, 4-6 6-2 6-3
17) United Cup 2024 RR : L Olga Danilovic, 6-4 1-6 7-6
18) Dubai 2024 R1 : L Karolina Pliskova, 6-3 7-5
19) Indian Wells 2024 R1 : L Mai Hontama, 5-7 6-2 6-0
20) Miami 2024 R1 : L Daria Gavrilova, 6-4 2-6 6-4
21) Madrid 2024 R1 : L Shelby Rogers, 6-3 6-2
22) Wimbledon 2024 R1 : L Daria Kasatkina, 6-3 6-0


She just recorded her 22nd consecutive Loss in the 1st Round of Madrid (not counting qualifying and ITF matches). Multiple sources say this is THE all-time record. A depressing one for sure. She was still ranked #22 in Lyon last year (February 2023). She is now using a protected ranking.
:cry:
Click to expand...


Ugh...losing to clowns. Needs Tiafoe to show her the way.
 
jm1980

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
tennisjedi said:
She’s hit rock bottom. How long will her protected ranking last?
Click to expand...
Tennisfan339 said:
Thanks. I removed the United Cup and edited the thread again, with her last loss against Krueger today. This is the 23rd consecutive loss. She beats her own record. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Good news is, this is almost over. She has two more protected ranking entries left to use. One of them will probably be the Australian Open.
 
jm1980

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
Zhang will play in Seoul next week in a depleted field. Probably her best chance to break this streak
 
G

Gizo

Hall of Fame
Zhang's R1 opponent in Seoul will be Veronika Kudermetova, who this past week had a disastrous 3rd set collapse from 5-0 up vs. Osorio at Guadalajara (as someone who likes Osorio I wasn't unhappy about that !), and who last year lost to a 43 year old Venus at Cincinnati.

I was going to say that defeat to Venus trigged a sharp decline for Kudermetova, but then I realised that about a month and a half later, she won the title at Tokyo beating Swiatek in the quarter-finals and Pegula in the final. But she has struggled a lot this year (Charleston was the only tournament during which she won back to back main draw matches), and her set-up with her husband as her coach doesn't look to be effective.

Admittedly Zhang's struggles on court have been on a completely different stratosphere to that, but still there are far worse opponents to face at least on paper, in her bid to finally end this record breaking run of losses.
 
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B

BenC

Hall of Fame
Zhang off to a flying start in the 1st set. Hot mic from the chair picks up his asking, "how do you say thank you in Korean?"

edit ... oh well.
 
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G

Gizo

Hall of Fame
Kudermetova wins 6-4 6-3 and as Zhang suffers a 24th consecutive defeat, after a positive start to go 4-1 up in the 1st set.
 
G

Gizo

Hall of Fame
MichaelNadal said:
Man, tennis is rough af.
Click to expand...

Yep it's brutal. A combination of family issues and concerns, not being able to return to China for over 3 years due to COVID restrictrions (and she didn't have a training base outside China), a non-stop playing schedule without a break for few years (even playing events right up to Christmas), illnesses causing her to lose quite a lot of weight last year etc., clearly has been a big contributing factor here.
 
D-Lite

D-Lite

Hall of Fame
She's predominantly a doubles player now (made the USO final with Mladenovic) and only playing these singles events with a PR likely happy enough with the R1 singles prize money to complement her doubles performances. Soon she will need to play ITF singles events if she's to progress again in singles. She really should have done a bit of this in order to win some singles matches as her top level in singles really isn't that bad. I think she was previously ranked top 30 in singles.
 
jm1980

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
Zhang Shuai watch: she received a wildcard to Beijing. She plays Kessler, who won Cleveland last month so the streak may very well be extended
 
Tennisfan339

Tennisfan339

Professional
Happy for her. Now I don't have to update this thread anymore. :)

But apparently another player did worse before the WTA was created. Someone called Madeleine Pegel lost 29 consecutive matches in 1968. I just found the info.
https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4130...g-beats-kessler-to-end-24-match-losing-streak
www.kicker.ch

Zweitlängste Negativserie reißt: Zhang beendet 603-tägige Misere

Längst läuft es für Zhang Shuai nicht mehr so gut wie in den Tagen, als die Chinesin in der Weltrangliste Platz 22 belegte. Immerhin gewinnt sie am Mittwoch nach 603 Tagen mal wieder ein Spiel.
www.kicker.ch www.kicker.ch
 
G

Gizo

Hall of Fame
I’m delighted for her !

I’m not sure what her future plans are career-wise, but when she does retire she can do so with the relief that she ended this long and painful losing streak.

I did think she should drop down and play in singles matches in challengers / ITF events during the losing streak, to stand a much better chance of picking up wins and then gaining confidence for the main tour again (she entered doubles in a few such events but not singles).

However regardless she needed to win again on the main tour, and it’s nice that she won in a very big event in her home country.
 
G

Gizo

Hall of Fame
Zhang now can't stop winning !

After ending her long and painful losing streak in the previous round, she backed that up by comfortably dispatching the world no. 8 Navarro 6-4 6-2.

Her first WTA main draw win came at this same tournament in 2009. After also receiving a wildcard on that occasion and winning her R1 match, she beat the world no. 1 Safina in R2.

Recording top 10 victories at the same tournament 15 years apart is nice going.

And there were some very nice words about Zhang by Gauff after her R1 win:

www.eurosport.com

Coco Gauff delight as Zhang Shuai ends 24-match losing run with 'perfect timing' - 'So great to see her win' - Eurosport

Former world No. 22 Zhang hadn’t won a WTA Tour match since January 2023 until she beat McCartney Kessler in the first round of the China Open on Wednesday.
www.eurosport.com www.eurosport.com
 
B

Bambooman

Hall of Fame
Aussie Darcy said:
Zhang has also struggled because she had been unable to return to China to see her family due to Covid restrictions. I remember back in June/July she said she hasn’t seen them in 3 years which is just insane to think about. She may have seen them now but it’s no surprise she’s been struggling. Especially when you think of what happened to her countrywoman Peng Shuai…
Click to expand...
I thought we had to protect people from this horrible virus? How is it insane?
 
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