China's Olympic champion makes triumphant return

Still working on a diligent rehab process before the tournament, Zheng confessed that China Open originally wasn't on her plan for the "China Swing", but it was the enthusiastic fan support during her pre-tournament practice sessions that made her want to pay them back by at least trying to play.

"I am not recovered to my full strength yet. But I really want to make it happen and appear on the court for all the fans. Match by match, I believe I will recover better during the tournament.

"It proved a right decision to play this match, although still carrying a little bit of pain," she said.

Zheng will play against No 27 Linda Noskova in the next round on Monday.

With three days to go before the week-long National Day holiday begins on Wednesday, the China Open has already set an all-time high single-day attendance of 45,000 on Saturday, mainly due to the surging popularity of Zheng.