Zheng Qinwen looked like she was in serious trouble on Friday on Manolo Santana Stadium.

After winning the opening game of her second-round clash with Sofia Kenin, the Chinese Olympic gold medallist lost the next seven consecutive games.

Playing just her fourth tournament of the season as she resumes her comeback from an elbow injury that sidelined her for nearly seven months, Zheng knows she is short on match play and is still finding her footing at her first clay event of the year.

But in the face of a 1-6, 0-1 deficit, something magical happened for the former world No.4 – she felt a competitive fire within her she says she’s been searching for since she returned to the tour in February.

Spurring herself on with a few ‘come ons’, Zheng, or ‘Qweenwen’ as her fans like to call her, struck back by breaking twice in the second set to level the match, and she rebounded from 0-2 down in the decider to claim her third victory in as many meetings with Kenin and grab just her fifth win of 2026.

“The match was a bit of a roller coaster, honestly,” said the 23-year-old Zheng, who next faces two-time Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina.

“Because I didn’t start well the first set, like always happens since I got back from the injury, so I’m not surprised. But somehow I managed to win the match.”

Zheng tried to mix things up in the second set, opting to move back a few steps and to play with more topspin instead of hitting a flatter ball.

“That’s how I won the match. Nothing special, just keep fighting and that’s it,” she added.

Except it’s not that simple.

After months of rehabbing her elbow and spending time away from the tour – she played just one tournament between July 2025 and February 2026 – Zheng admits it’s been hard trying to recapture her killer instinct on the court.

“I’m really happy about my attitude today on court because finally I started to feel this winning desire, which I didn’t find that in the Sunshine swing,” she explained.

“I stayed in a peaceful life for too long,” she adds with a chuckle, noting that she took some Spanish and Chinese lessons during her time off, and was doing three hours of rehab every day.

“There was no pressure, so I had zero adrenaline during the tournament [when I came back]. When you’re in a tournament, your body, all your cells regenerate faster and your body keeps pushing, pushing. But when you get injured, suddenly everything stops, your life becomes a normal person.

“So when I came back to the tour, for me it’s not the body that’s the most difficult, it’s here [inside]. I felt there is no fire in me and I felt, where is the hunger to win? I love to win, yes of course, but why don’t I have that extra energy there?

“But finally today when I lost the first set I found a bit that extra energy and I think I need to keep finding that because that was the key to winning my past matches.”

There are probably a few factors why Zheng was able to take that positive step forward on Friday. For one, she said she loves how she is treated at the Mutua Madrid Open, joking that it helps to have a Spanish coach in her corner [Pere Riba], and was hoping she could extend her stay in the Spanish capital as long as possible.

She also says her elbow has been responding well since Indian Wells and Miami, unlike how she felt after her first tournament back in Doha in February, when her physical condition still wasn’t 100 percent.

A notable difference in Zheng is her service motion, which she has made adjustments to in order to improve her first-serve percentage, as well as protect her elbow.

“It’s necessary for me to change the motion, to find the best way it can be for my biomechanics. If you see the past three, four years, I’ve been always trying to adapt and trying to make my serve better. I realised my percentage wasn’t the highest, but when I put the first-serve in, I think I got over 80 percent of the chance I won the point, so I think I need to play with that trying to get more first-serve percentage, and I think that’s the key for me,” said Zheng.

Zheng is 1-3 against Rybakina in previous matches, including a three-set loss to the reigning Australian Open champion in Doha last February.

It’s the kind of match-up that can further ignite Zheng’s competitive spirit.

“One thing I realised is that spending a long time without pressure in my life was a bit boring. But the thing I missed on the tour the most is to compete with the girls; doesn’t matter win or lose, I enjoy the competition. I love the WTA Tour, and I finally realised what my passions are, and I just enjoy to be here,” Zheng said in her on-court interview on Friday.

“I had an unfortunate beginning today, it takes time to adjust and to find a way with my game style on clay. But I’m happy I got the win and I will be ready for the next match.”