"That's my life... If I keep winning, nothing surprise" - Zhang Shuai jokes after stunning Emma Navarro to back up snapping 24-match losing streak

Zhang Shuai recently talked about snapping her 24-match losing streak at the 2024 China Open. To add a cherry on top, she also won her second-round match against World No. 8 Emma Navarro.

Shuai's unfortunate losing streak started at the 2023 Lyon Open when she lost to Maryna Zanevska in the second round. The streak, which lasted 603 days, finally ended at the China Open, Shuai's home tournament.

The Chinese talked to the press after she upset Navarro in the second round. She joked about giving a surprise to fans once in a while.

"I think maybe that's my life (smiling). Yeah, I like to give to everybody surprise. If I keep winning, everybody feel like nothing surprise. I mean, I really want to win every week, for sure. Sometimes when you get injury, when you getting older, you can't control many things," Shuai said.

Shuai added that even when she was losing matches, she continued working hard.

"But if nothing change, is training hard, working hard, that's the key. I think nothing secure. Only the keys of working hard day by day. You can see no one without working hard comes feeling easy on this court. I try my best. Still waiting for the one winning for singles like almost two years, one and a half years," she said.

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A look at all the matches Zhang Shuai lost in her 24-match losing streak

Zhang Shuai at the Guangzhou Open 2017 (Image via Getty)

Zhang Shuai's first loss came in 2023 at the Lyon Open when she lost to Maryna Zanevska. Then, she lost to Anett Kontaveit at the Abu Dhabi Open before losing to Petra Kvitova at the Doha Open. She was then defeated by compatriot Qinwen Zheng at the Dubai Open. The Chinese was then forced to retire mid-match at the Indian Wells Open.

Next, at Charleston Open, she couldn't go past Julia Grabher. Then at the Strasbourg Open, Shuai lost to Anna-Lena Friedsam before failing to Magdalena Frech at the French Open. She also lost to Tatjana Maria, Emina Bektas, and Harriet Dart at Nottingham, Birmingham, and Eastbourne, respectively. At Wimbledon, Donna Vekic got the better of her.

At the Budapest Open, she retired mid-match Amarissa Kiara Toth. Then, she fell victim to compatriot Yue Yuan at the Prague Open before falling to Anna Blinkova at the Montreal Open.

Her losses continued in 2024 as well, with her falling short at the Dubai Open, Indian Wells Open, and Miami Open against Karolina Pliskova, Mai Hontama, and Daria Saville, respectively. At the Madrid Open, she lost to Shelby Rogers before falling to Daria Kasarkina at Wimbledon. Shuai then lost to Daina Shnaider at the Cincinnati Open and to Ashlyn Krueger at the US Open. Next, she lost to Veronika Kudermetova at the Korea Open.

The 35-year-old finally snapped her losing streak at the China Open against McCartney Kessler. The Chinese backed it up with a spectacular victory against Emma Navarro. Now, she will face Greet Minnen in the third round.