Zheng vs Muchova: Palermo Final Analysis (WTA 250)

Zheng used baseline dominance and a more solid backhand performance to successfully defend her title

On an exceptional basis, during the last couple of weeks, we dedicated all our time to the Olympic tennis tournament. Now, as we return to our regular coverage, we will also post analyses on the Tour finals we have missed.

In a perfect link to the Olympics, we will start with Qinwen Zheng and her triumph in Palermo, which worked as a formidable stepping stone toward a historic gold medal in Paris.

credit: Palermo Ladies Open twitter

Qinwen Zheng’s love story with Palermo continues.

It was in Palermo that Zheng won her first WTA Tour main draw match, back in 2021. Two years later, the Palermo Country Time Club was the site for Zheng’s first career Tour title. Now, Zheng has added a couple of entries to her career achievements while playing at the Sicilian city: first Tour event played as the top seed and a first successful title defense.

In the final, Zheng outlasted 2nd-seed Karolina Muchova in a 3-set tussle that approached 3 hours. Muchova, playing in only her third event since the US Open after a wrist injury that required surgery, couldn’t keep up with Zheng until the end and dropped to a 1-4 record in Tour finals. The 2019 Korea Open in Seoul persists as her sole singles title to date.

There were 3 decisive factors in Zheng’s win over Muchova:

1. Baseline dominance

2. Backhand groundstroke performances

3. 5+ shot rallies

1. Baseline dominance