Watch: Rare scenes at Toray Pan Pacific Open as chair umpire fulfills Shuai Zhang's on-court cravings
Chinese player Shuai Zhang pulled off an extraordinary win over 10th-ranked Caroline Garcia on Wednesday in the second round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, also known as the Japan Open. The 28th-ranked star rallied from a set down and saved a match point to beat the 28-year-old Frenchwoman 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in two hours and 30 minutes.
However, the biggest highlight of the match was when the 33-year-old Zhang pushed the match into a decider and immediately went up to the chair umpire to ask if she could eat some bread. This was followed by her receiving a sandwich on the court as she ate it while walking towards her chair.
You can watch the incredible scenes here:
She ATE 🥪
Never a bad time for a sandwich, @zhangshuai121 😝
#TorayPPO https://t.co/JibgLySeBE
Zhang continued to fight in the third set and repeated the scoreline in the second to close out the match and improve her head-to-head record against Garcia to 3-2. While Garcia hit 27 aces, 67 winners, and 49 unforced errors, Zhang finished with four aces, 21 winners, and 25 unforced errors.
In their five meetings so far on the WTA tour, this was the first instance where the match went the distance. The previous four matches were straight-sets affairs.
With the win, Shuai Zhang has reached the quarterfinals of the ongoing WTA 500 tournament in Japan and awaits the winner of the match between 20th-ranked Karolina Pliskova and 46th-ranked Petra Martic, which will be played on Thursday.
Shuai Zhang's season so far
Shuai Zhang has enjoyed one of the best outings this year as out of her 55 matches so far, she has won 32, while losing the remaining 23.
Her best performance came at the Open 6E Sens Metropole de Lyon Open in France in March, when she went all the way and won the WTA 250 event, only her third title in the singles category. On her way to glory, the Chinese defeated Caroline Garcia in the semifinals and Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska in the title clash.
Zhang continued to struggle at this year's Grand Slam events, having faced a third-round exit against Elise Mertens at the 2022 Australian Open and a first-round exit at the hands of Italy's Camila Giorgi at Roland Garros.
Garcia struck back at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships as she downed Zhang in the third round, while the Chinese star reached the fourth round of the 2022 US Open, where she fell to America's Coco Gauff.
What a win for Shuai Zhang!!!
Caro Garcia won 11 more points, and hit 67 winners to 49 UEs. +18 differential, whereas Zhang had -4.
That girl Caro Garcia just so unclutch with no confidence or self-belief. This is what happens when she plays against someone good. https://t.co/Y8O2jBhCGC