There was reason for Raducanu to be confident against Zheng, who is still finding her feet on the grass court and has a serve that can waver when under pressure.
World number 37 Raducanu had also made relatively serene progress through her first two matches, dropping just eight games across four sets.
But, as Raducanu found against Iga Swiatek in Melbourne and Paris, and Coco Gauff in Italy, there is a different, consistent level needed to beat the players for who winning is a habit.
In an edgy start, Raducanu put pressure on Zheng’s serve while saving break points in her own games.
But Zheng broke through at the seventh attempt, a blistering backhand down the line silencing the crowd, who had earlier voiced their displeasure after Zheng had to change her shoes midway through the game.
Raducanu kept up the pressure, creating an immediate break-back opportunity, but Zheng’s huge groundstrokes kept her at bay, and a rushed forehand into the net handed the top seed the first set.
Raducanu left court for a medical timeout on her back but took advantage as Zheng’s first serve all but disappeared on her return.
With the wind picking up, Raducanu produced a series of ruthless returns to Zheng’s second serve and quickly found herself 3-0 up.
But Zheng wrestled a break back and upped her intensity when needed, creeping forward to attack Raducanu’s serve. A double fault handed Zheng the break back and she reeled off four games in a row to close out the match.
“I’ve improved a lot and done a lot good work behind the scenes but there’s a lot to go to get to the next level,” Raducanu said.
“They are stronger than me and had more time training – I need to do the same. I need to raise my level.”
Raducanu is scheduled to compete at the grass-court event in Berlin next week but said she would consult with her team before making any decisions.
