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Qinwen Zheng has reached her first major quarterfinal at the US Open. The 20-year-old is blessed with a lot of talent.
Legend: The picture is deceptive Qinwen Zheng is not a fringe phenomenon at the US Open. imago images/USA Today Network
With Ons Jabeur (WTA 5), Qinwen Zheng (WTA 23) has defeated a player from the top 5 in the world rankings for the third time in her career. The Chinese advanced to the quarterfinals in New York thanks to the 6: 2, 6: 4 over the 2022 US Open finalist.
For the only 20-year-old, it will be the first time at a major tournament at this level. However, it has been known for a long time that she has a lot on her plate. By 2022 at the latest, when she knocked out Simona Halep at the French Open and was able to take a sentence from the eventual winner Iga Swiatek in the round of 16, a broader public became aware of the talent from the Far East.
Does the successful coach also make Zheng a Grand Slam champion?
This year, Zheng, who counts serve and forehand among her greatest weapons, has taken another step forward. Since June she has been working with the Belgian coach Wim Fissette, who has coached various top players. He made a name for himself alongside Kim Clijsters, and more recently he led Naomi Osaka to triumph at the US Open. It’s been three years.
Zheng’s collaboration with Fissette paid off immediately: in Palermo at the end of July she won her first tournament on clay. Now, surprisingly, she also shines on hard court. After defeating Jabeur, she asked her coach a wreath. “He encourages me to play aggressively and take control of the game. When I became defensive, my opponent immediately came up better.”
In the footsteps of Li Na
In her home country of China, “Queen Wen”, as she is more and more often called, has long been a great tennis hope. After the negative headlines in the Peng Shuai case, whose fate is still unclear after allegations against an ex-politician, Zheng’s youthful charm creates a more positive picture.
It is not only because of her carefree character that she is reminiscent of Li Na, who was the first Asian woman to win a Grand Slam tournament in Paris in 2011. At that time, 116 million Chinese sat in front of the television sets, including 8-year-old Zheng.
“She planted the belief in my heart that I can do it too. I want to be like her, or even better,” Zheng said in an interview earlier this year. She still needs three wins in Flushing Meadows to triumph.
2023-09-04 23:34:00
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