The cruel nature of competitive sports took its toll midway through what was shaping up to be another strong year for Zheng, following her breakout 2024 campaign that saw her crowned Olympic champion in Paris.

"I wasn't planning on having surgery after Wimbledon until it quickly got worse in training. My team persuaded me to stop," said Zheng, who suffered a first-round upset to Czech ace Katerina Siniakova at the All-England Club and soon realized it was the nagging elbow problem that was dampening the lethal force of her forehand shots.

Now that she's come to terms with the grueling nature of the sport — growing from pain is part of the job, Zheng said — she will approach the remainder of the high-profile "China Swing" on the pro calendar less concerned about where she finishes, more on how she deals with potential setbacks.

"I feel I'm around 70 to 80 percent healthy now. My baseline strokes are okay already, but I haven't been able to serve as aggressively I would normally," said the 22-year-old Hubei province native.

"Of course, the ideal plan is to compete in every event, but I'm not yet at 10 out of 10. So I will take it one step at a time. There is always another day, so I won't push it too hard."

Zheng is due to face either her compatriot Wang Yafan or Dutch player Suzan Lamens, who are scheduled to clash in the first round on Thursday at Beijing's National Tennis Center, when she joins in the second round of competition. The women's draw has 96 players and offers the champion 1000 ranking points.

Should she progress smoothly, Zheng is expected to face a serious threat in quarterfinals facing Russia's world No 5 Mirra Andreeva, who also took part in Tuesday's promotional event, sharing the spotlight with Zheng, as well as Japan's four-time major winner Naomi Osaka and fourth-ranked Amanda Anisimova of the United States.

The China Open, Asia's biggest men's and women's combined tournament, kicked off main draw action on Wednesday, setting the tone for a busy stretch, during which seven WTA and ATP tournaments will be held in the country.

Another return that has thrilled fans on the men's side is that of Novak Djokovic to China. The 24-time Grand Slam champion announced on Tuesday that he will again compete at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, a top-tier ATP 1000 event, following his hugely popular appearance in the tournament last year.

The Serbian great, as four-time champion at the Shanghai tournament, has enjoyed sensational fan following in China throughout his career, and said he couldn't wait to come back to the East China metropolis.

"I am very pleased to share with you that I will be returning to Shanghai for the Rolex Shanghai Masters. I have enjoyed great success in Shanghai over the years and I am looking forward to seeing you all during the Golden Week. Shanghai, let's meet!" Djokovic said in a message shared by the tournament's organizers.