The Chinese athlete reached the decisive stage of a Grand Slam for the first time at just 21 years old and after having tried many other sports. “I fell in love with tennis through competition,” he says.
Ten years after his compatriot Li Na won the Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen places China in the final of this Grand Slam for the second time. And he does it with style.
At only 21 years old, the native of Shiyan dedicates her growing career with this feat and does not regret having chosen tennis at only 8 years old. “When I was a child, I often got sick. So my parents told me to play sports and choose one . That’s when I tried table tennis, badminton, basketball and tennis,” reveals the athlete.
And he fell in love with the latter activity because of the competition that takes place during each game. “I really liked the competition, especially the feeling of beating your opponent. Of course, when you lose, you feel so sad, so depressed, you feel like the world is broken for you. But competition is what I like most about tennis,” he explains.
It is therefore not surprising that his career is constantly on the rise. Only the year 2022 went from 143rd to 25th place and Next week he will be in the top ten of the world rankings holding two titles: Palermo and Zhengzhou.
Achievements that come from his constant work with the Spanish coach, Pere Riba. The same one who resides in Barcelona, where Zheng went to perfect his two-handed game and his powerful forehand. And also to tune your vocal cords in karaoke.
A fan of pop music, the oriental singer sings in Spanish, English and Chinese when traveling to visit family (his father is a mathematics teacher and his mother works at home), spend hours playing video games or hangs out with his childhood friends.
The girl born on October 8, 2002 has a kind character, and her sports idol is Roger Federer. But it is with Rafael Nadal that he has a nice anecdote. “I saw one of his workouts and Wow! , it’s incredible. But I don’t have the courage to ask for a photo. I do not want to disturb. I really want the signature and the photo, but maybe when I improve (as an athlete) “, she said last year in the same tournament that today can put her fully in history.
Of course, the task will not be easy since she will have to face the defending champion and number one seed, Aryna Sabalenka (2nd). Which has already beaten her in the quarter-finals of the US Open 2023 by 6-1 and 6-4 and does not want for anything in the world to deliver her title this Saturday, at a time to be defined.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
