China's veteran Zhang Shuai makes it back to Australian Open

Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai defeated her compatriot Guo Hanyu 7-6(2), 0-6, 7-5 in the Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard playoff women's singles final in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, on Saturday, securing her qualification for the first Grand Slam tournament in 2025.

"Guo Hanyu has great baseline skills and much higher tennis IQ than any player of my generation," Zhang said after the match. "Her serves and returning are both excellent. So, though I won today, I call it a lucky victory. I only beat her by one or two points at the end of the contest."

Zhang will make her 13th appearance at the Australian Open next year. Her best records at the tournament were reaching the singles quarterfinals in 2016 and winning the women's doubles title pairing with Samantha Stosur of Australia in 2019.

The last time Zhang played at the Australian Open, she was the No. 23 seed and made the round of 16 where she lost to Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. She missed the tournament and the French Open this year before suffering early exits in the first round at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.