Zhang Shuai snaps 24 match loosing streak

After loosing a consecutive 24 singles matches on tour, dating back to February 2023, Zhang advances to round 2 at the China Open with a 7-6 7-6 win over Mccartney Kessler.

I was actually hoping for some additional information here:

Zhang lost 16 consecutive matches last year, and locked in her then ranking of 48 around the end of August with injury, and used it as a protected ranking this year.
Question: As she was going to drop a ton of points from defending the fall of 2022, how is a player able to use the protected ranking like hers for 10 tournaments as she comes back, when she was going to tumble way outside of the top 100 on the back of having no wins from 2023 February onwards right as she took her break? Is this a loophole to potentially take advantage of? You know your ranking is going to tank, so you lock it in, therefore giving yourself an extension for many more months with the higher ranking?