World No. 6 Zheng Qinwen has undergone surgery for “persistent pain” in her right elbow, she announced Saturday.
The reigning Olympic gold medalist revealed the procedure with a post on Instagram, sharing a photo of herself in a hospital bed. She said that she had been dealing with the issue for the past few months, and “[d]espite trying various treatments to manage it, the discomfort never fully went away.”
“This is just a short break, and I see it as a necessary step toward a better version of myself on court,” she wrote.
Zheng was last in action at Wimbledon, where she was upset in the first round by Katerina Siniakova, and had been wearing a compression sleeve on her right arm in matches since January’s Australian Open. Prior to Wimbledon, she withdrew from the Berlin Tennis Open with what was announced as a neck injury, and she had previously announced her withdrawal from the upcoming Mubadala Citi DC Open earlier this week.
“Grateful to have [the procedure] behind [her],” Zheng says she’ll “be focusing entirely on rehab” in the coming weeks and months — though she did not give any indication for how long she’ll be sidelined.
“Doing everything I can to come back stronger and healthier,” she added
The 22-year-old is 19-11 on the Hologic WTA Tour this season, with semifinal runs at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and the HSBC Championships at the Queen’s Club as highlights.