Rejuvenated Tauson beats Olympic champion to move into quarter-final at Bad Homburg

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tauson-clara/2PPTHPya/"]Clara Tauson[/a] has apparently hit form after several difficult and winless months.[/p][p]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, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zheng-qinwen/xCyEhjAS/"]Zheng Qinwen[/a], 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]Consequently, Tauson, who occasionally looked close to her best form, followed up her victory over the Russian French Open semi-finalist [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/shnaider-diana/028BdVOj/"]Diana Shnaider[/a] in two sets in the first round on Monday.[/p][p]In her quarter-final, Tauson will face either fourth-seeded [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/muchova-karolina/Or4Qa1ye/"]Karolina Muchova[/a] from the Czech Republic or Romanian qualifier [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/begu-irina/vwIzxgEI/"]Irina-Camelia Begu[/a].[/p][p]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.[/p][embed guid="d7ebdb8e-99e8-49ee-9942-976ca773000d" url="https://x.com/badhomburgopen/status/2069774259912655280" social-type="twitter" /][p]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.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]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.[/p][p]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. [/p][p]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. [/p]