Clara Tauson has apparently hit form after several difficult and winless months.
In the WTA 500 tournament in Bad Homburg, she claimed her second successive win after her troubled spell when she beat the defending Olympic champion, Zheng Qinwen, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
The match which lasted almost two and a half hours and was played in close to 35 degrees Celsius, but a mobile and focused Tauson, who has struggled with physical challenges in 2026, seemed on top compared to her opponent.
Consequently, Tauson, who occasionally looked close to her best form, followed up her victory over the Russian French Open semi-finalist Diana Shnaider in two sets in the first round on Monday.
In her quarter-final, Tauson will face either fourth-seeded Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic or Romanian qualifier Irina-Camelia Begu.
Zheng Qinwen was handed a wildcard in Bad Homburg after falling from fourth place in the world rankings to 153rd due to injury over the past year.
In the first set, the Chinese player showed why she has previously reached the Australian Open final. In a very close and long first set without many break points, Zheng Qinwen looked sharp on the decisive points and claimed the first set 7-5.
Tauson, who had physical challenges in 2026, remained calm with an ice pack on her head during the breaks, and when she broke to 1-0 in the second set after a game with four Chinese double faults, the stage was set for Tauson to control the set.
With a fearsome first serve as her weapon, the 23-year-old Dane was never threatened in her service games and, at the same time, made a minimum of errors compared to the Chinese player.
The recipe was the same in the third set. Tauson broke to 1-0 and kept her opponent at bay never allowing any break points in her own service games.
Zheng Qinwen lacked stability, and Tauson managed to break again to make it 5-2 before serving home the game to book her progress in the tournament.