Qinwen Zheng sounded bullish about her chances of beating the top players after stunning Anett Kontaveit in a third-set tiebreak in the Adelaide 1 opening round on Tuesday (January 3). The 2022 WTA Newcomer of the Year saved a match point in a late-night thriller to knock out Kontaveit in 2 hours and 28 minutes.There was little inkling of a slugfest when Zheng led 6-1, 4-2 after an hour, with the finish line in sight for the Chinese. However, Kontaveit stormed back into the contest, forcing a third set where neither player dropped serve.In a titanic tiebreak, both players saw a match point come and go. Kontaveit saved one at 6-5 down and squandered one of her own at 7-6 before a netted backhand from the Estonian ended the contest.wta@WTABattle tested Zheng Qinwen puts on a gutsy performance to take out Kontaveit 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(7)#AdelaideTennis17517Battle tested 👏Zheng Qinwen puts on a gutsy performance to take out Kontaveit 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(7)#AdelaideTennis https://t.co/o90RBuLvG7Buoyed by her victory over the seeded player, Zheng sent down a gauntlet to the rest of the tour that she has the level to 'beat them all'. The 20-year-old said in her post-match press conference."I always know that I have the level to beat all of them. It's just a problem I have to show it on court.... I was leading 4-2 in the second set. If I can do better there, I can close the match in two sets, but I cannot do it in that moment, but it's okay. I accept in that moment, and it was tennis."Opining that the match got tough in the decider, Zheng was happy to close it out after saving a match point. She said:"That match started to be really difficult in the third set. She got a match point, and me, I got match point, also. Yeah, we had a really tough moment. But anyway, I'm so happy to win my first match of the season."Zheng will next play Victoria Azarenka for a place in the Adelaide quarterfinals."I still have a lot to improve, and I want to play match by match" - Qinwen Zheng after beating Anett KontaveitQinwen ZhengQinwen Zheng enjoyed a breakout 2022 season, moving up nearly 100 places in the rankings to end the year at World No. 28.The 20-year-old, though, knows that she's far from the finished article despite beating a top-10 player in Kontaveit. Here's what she said about her evolution in the last 12 months:"I learned a lot from the last past year, especially here all the girls they are playing really good. You can never relax until the last point is over. Today I was a little bit relaxed, and look what happened; the match become really tough."wta@WTA2022 Newcomer of the Year, Zheng Qinwen 🗣Rising nearly spots during the 2022 season, a maiden WTA final in Tokyo and a breakthrough Grand Slam run to the fourth round at @RolandGarros #WTAAwards619582022 Newcomer of the Year, Zheng Qinwen 🗣Rising nearly 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ spots during the 2022 season, a maiden WTA final in Tokyo and a breakthrough Grand Slam run to the fourth round at @RolandGarros 📈#WTAAwards https://t.co/rMidVeW1CXAs for her expectations in the new season, Zheng said that she wishes to break into the top 10."In 2023, I wish I can become a top 10 first," said the Chinese. "But it's a long way. I still have a lot to improve, and I want to play match by match, and let's see what happens and when I can get there."Her win over Kontaveit was Qinwen Zheng's fifth over a top-20 player in her last six attempts.