China's Zheng advances to last 16 at French Open

PARIS -- Paris Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China continued her strong run at the French Open on Friday, advancing to the women's singles Round of 16 with a straight-sets win over 18-year-old Canadian qualifier Victoria Mboko.

The eighth seed needed just under 90 minutes to beat Mboko 6-3, 6-4 in their first career meeting, marking her second appearance in the last 16 at Roland Garros after her breakthrough run in 2022.

"I was born in China in a really hot place, which is called Wuhan. So I handled the hot weather quite well," Zheng said in her post-match interview. "Last year when I played the Olympic Games, it was hotter than this. So actually I like this condition, but I want to say thanks to all the crowd who suffered here under the sun today with me."

Zheng also praised her young opponent. "I want to say congrats to the opponent because I feel she played really well, and I think we pushed each other to play our best tennis. And sometimes we had really good points. It was not an easy match."

Zheng will next face the winner of the match between Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine and Liudmila Samsonova of Russia as she looks to reach her first French Open quarterfinal.