Character丨Zheng Qinwen: Her perseverance and unremitting pursuit
by Sports Observer.
On the night of the Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen's shining moment
In the crowd at the Rod Laver Stadium in Melbourne, Sabalenka successfully defended her Australian Open women's singles title. However, the focus of many Chinese viewers on the northern hemisphere winter night was the Australian Open women's singles runner-up, Zheng Qinwen, who was only 21 years old. This is Zheng's ninth Grand Slam main draw and her first final. After the match, she will jump to seventh in the singles world rankings, fulfilling her wish to "enter the top 10 in the world" a year ago. Sabalenka congratulated Zheng Qinwen at the award ceremony: "You will have many opportunities in the future, and you will definitely win your own Grand Slam title. This blessing represents the expectation of many. After the Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen's highlight road is still ahead.
1.100% enthusiastic "fire".
The moment you stand on the court, tennis is not just tennis, it is a reflection of what it is like to be human. Zheng Qinwen was once given an English nickname by the coach - "fire", which refers not only to her sense of strength and offensive style, but also to her fiery personality. However, she is keenly aware that strength and offense alone cannot sustain victory. In the transition from the youth arena to the ** arena, she realized in the frustration again and again: "Great strength is an advantage, but if you don't control this power well and don't know how to use it, it may become your disadvantage." This is true not only on the pitch, but also throughout her life. She found that there was a certain "connection" between the player's on-field and off-field states: being calm off the pitch made her more patient and better able to hold on to her opponents when playing on the pitch. "I'm trying to keep myself calm and steady now, but at the same time I'm still attacking sharply on the pitch and I'm slowly looking for how to be the best I can be," she said. ”
2.Be careful with the balance of wit and persistence
Zheng Qinwen will use various methods to find his form when competing. During the Australian Open, she revealed some of her "little superstitions": for example, to eat the same thing, to do many of the same things, to go to the court every day in the same position, all kinds of seemingly crazy little details. At the same time, in order to maintain inner focus and peace, she made some "simple and straightforward" choices. For example, she will try to maintain a light diet to avoid the effects of irritating foods on her physical state; She also chooses to stay away from social networks to avoid mood swings. "I don't feel like I'm in a strong enough state of mind to completely ignore that, so I opted for physical shielding, which was the easiest way for me," she said. "Behind this simple and straightforward style is a total passion for tennis. Only by being clear about the most important thing in your heart can you not hesitate when facing the choice.
3.The price of persistence and hard work
At the end of 2019, Zheng Qinwen went to Spain to train. Due to the pandemic, many players chose to return to China, but Zheng insisted on continuing to train overseas. Her father, Zheng Jianping, said that when the epidemic was severe in Spain, the training ground was closed at 7 a.m. every day. Therefore, Zheng Qinwen had nearly 4 months, getting up at 4:30 in the morning every day to train, and it lasted until 7 o'clock. "This persistence gives us the opportunity to overtake in corners. Zheng Jianping said. In August 2020, more than a year after the resumption of tennis events, Zheng Qinwen participated in nearly 30 tournaments with little to no rest. To reduce the risk of contracting the coronavirus, her team chose to travel by car, and the farthest time spent 22 hours on the road. "It's unbelievable when you think about it, I was in the car for a day and a half, just to have a race. I don't want to be eliminated in the first round and then drive home for another 22 hours, I want to get some results and not let that hard work go to waste. Zheng Qinwen said.
4.A striver in the eyes of a coach
Zheng Qinwen's coach Riva said at the press conference before the final: "I have never seen a player who works as hard as her, you can imagine what kind of dream Qinwen has in her heart, she really wants to be the best player. I'm happy for her performance at the Australian Open because it's worth it. This recognition is not only for her performance in the competition, but also for her relentless pursuit of herself. Zheng Qinwen once said: "I can't imagine the pain that stagnation brings me. That's probably the determination she showed on the court. At the 2022 French Open, Zheng Qinwen met the women's singles world No. 1 player Swiatek in the fourth round of the main draw. The physical pain didn't stop her, and her form had dropped significantly in the second set. However, she made a decision that shocked the crowd in the deciding set – "remove the bandage and keep fighting". She explained: "Actually, although there was pain in my leg at that time, it was nothing compared to the pain in my stomach. The bandage was tied to my leg and affected my movement, so I removed the bandage to give it a go. "This fearlessness has made her the top player in her own mind. The same belief was evident in the Australian Open final, where she fought back almost blankly at the last chance to save four championship points when the big score was completely at a disadvantage. Although it failed to rewrite the ending, for the 21-year-old Zheng, it may become an energy that pushes her forward.
5.Pain and growth are intertwined
At the post-match press conference, Zheng Qinwen's expression was full of regret and loss. This is in stark contrast to her previous positive and cheerful image. However, the pain of defeat is something that every professional athlete faces. She rarely showed her less positive emotions after the game, and her confident and humorous speech became a label on her. In fact, Zheng Qinwen once said that in the previous period, she would almost cry every time she lost a game. After the Australian Open women's singles final, she covered herself with a towel on the side of the court. "[The feelings] are really complicated because I always feel like I can do better, but I didn't do it today, and then maybe I feel like I'm blaming myself a lot, and I need time to calm down," she said. Perhaps it is precisely because of his harshness of requirements that Zheng Qinwen has rarely shown emotions in the past few years.
6.The future of her
After the game, the reporter asked Zheng Qinwen: "What do you want to say to yourself when you were a child?" Her answer may be a force to motivate her in the future: "All your hard work is definitely worth it, and you have to enjoy the process a lot, because everything will come." Her understanding of failure and her demanding demands on herself bode well for her future growth path. Zheng Qinwen said: "I think winning the championship is in line with my expectations, but not winning it, then it shows that I really have a lot of shortcomings that need to be improved. This kind of introspection and unremitting pursuit will become the driving force for her to continue to move forward in the future. She hopes to learn more from each defeat and looks forward to becoming a better and stronger tennis player the next time she returns to the Australian Open.
Conclusion
Zheng Qinwen, a 21-year-old young player, presented us with a touching game with her persistence, hard work and demanding requirements for herself. Every game she plays is a journey of growth, and every defeat is an opportunity to accumulate. Her story tells us that behind success is countless hard work and dedication, and every pain is a stepping stone on the road to success. Zheng Qinwen's future is full of expectations, and she will continue to write her own brilliant chapter.