Shuai Zhang of China plays a forehand in her fourth round match against Madison Keys of the United States during day eight of the 2016 Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo : Getty Images)
Zhang Shuai, 27, is continuing to perform incredibly at the Australian Open. The Tianjin native, who went through the qualifiers to compete in Brisbane, is currently into the fourth round of the championship after beating American Varvara Lepchenko in clear sets of 6-1 and 6-3 on Saturday, Jan. 23.
Zhang said: "I just want to show the best of Zhang Shuai in this match. Before the match I think this is maybe the last match in my life. I tried to make myself do my best in the match. I want to try my best. I want to show the best of Zhang Shuai. I think I did a great job today, yeah."
According to China Sports Beat, the 27-year-old Chinese tennis player, who had considered retirement ahead of this tournament, has yet to drop a set in upsetting second seed Simona Halep, Alize Cornet from France, and now Lepchenko to reach the fourth round.
Before this tournament, Zhang had never won a match at a Grand Slam.
In fact, Yahoo News pointed out that Zhang is daring to dream extending her fantastic run all the way to the Australian title, crediting the use of compatriot Zheng Jie's "lucky locker" for her performances.
Her current performance is incredible considering that the ranked 133 tennis player had lost all 14 of her previous Grand Slam matches ahead of this week.
Zhang said: "I want to keep winning. Zheng Jie, she was always very lucky. She played well in the Australian Open. But this year she didn't come."
Zhang added: "This year I use her lucky locker. I don't remember the locker number, but she said, okay, I give you my lucky locker. I hope you can be lucky this year. So I think from her a lot of luck this year."
Zhang is facing 15th ranked American Madison Keys for a position in the quarterfinals, after Madison dispatched Ana Ivanovic.
