BEIJING -- China's wild card Zhang Shuai continued her impressive run at the 2024 China Open, defeating Belgium's Greet Minnen 6-2, 6-3 in the third round to secure a place in the women's singles last 16.

Zhang Shuai extended her fairytale China Open on Sunday as the home player ranked 595th in the world powered into the last 16 in straight sets to make more history. Zhang, who faced Minnen as the lowest-ranked player to reach the China Open third round in the tournament's history,

The 595th-ranked Zhang Shuai, who earlier this week won her first match in more than 600 days, stunned US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro 6-4, 6-2 in Beijing on Friday.

China's Zhang Shuai is making a remarkable comeback after breaking the longest losing streak in tennis at 52 years.The player, currently ranked 595th, ended a challenging run of 24 straight losses that spanned over 600 days at her home tournament,

It took 603 days for Zhang Shuai to taste victory after losing to American Madison Brengle at the Lyons Open in January last year, she has now won twice in the space of 48 hours. The former world No 23 plummeted to 595th during her historic 24-match slump,

China's 595th-ranked Zhang Shuai, who earlier this week won her first match in more than 600 days, stunned US Open semifinalist Emma Navarro 6-4, 6-2 in Beijing on Friday.

That long-awaited victory teed up a clash with world number eight Navarro, who Zhang beat 6-4 6-2 in a major upset in front of a jubilant crowd in the Chinese capital