Zheng Qinwen's journey to the Australian Open: passion, perseverance and growth
On a cold northern hemisphere winter night, the Australian Open's Rhodes Laver court was bustling with activity, with Sabalenka successfully defending her Women's Singles title. However, people's eyes are also attracted by the 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen. On this night, Zheng Qinwen reached the final of a Grand Slam for the first time, becoming the first Chinese player to reach the women's singles final of the Australian Open after Li Na. Despite failing to win the championship, Zheng Qinwen's perseverance and growth in the competition are admirable.
Zheng Qinwen's tennis journey began at the age of 10 when she went to the United States to train at a tennis school. The coach gave her a nickname, "fire", which symbolizes her powerful style of play and her burning heart. However, she knows that strength and offense alone can't win, and from the junior to the top of the game, she has learned the importance of mastering power through setbacks. This applies not only on the pitch, but also in life. Zheng gradually understood that being calm off the court helps her to be more patient on the court, which has become the key to her success.
When it comes to competing, Zheng Qinwen finds his form in various ways. She admits that there are some minor superstitions, such as eating the same food, doing the same things, and even sitting in the car position on the court must be the same. In order to maintain her inner focus and tranquility, she chooses to stay away from social networks and avoid mood swings. "My state of mind wasn't strong enough to completely ignore that, so I opted for physical shielding, which was the easiest way for me," she says. "Behind this simple and straightforward style is a deep passion for tennis.
Zheng Qinwen's father, Zheng Jianping, revealed that at the end of 2019, when the epidemic was raging, the training ground was controlled at 7 a.m. every day. In order to continue training, she did not hesitate to get up at 4:30 in the morning and insisted on training until 7 o'clock. That persistence gives her a chance to make a name for herself at the 2024 Australian Open. In the past year or so, Zheng Qinwen has participated in nearly 30 competitions with little to no rest. In order to reduce the risk of contracting the coronavirus, her team chose to travel by car, and the farthest one took 22 hours. Zheng Qinwen said: "It's incredible to think about it, I spent a day and a half in the car, just to have a race. I want to achieve something and not let all that hard work go to waste. ”
Zheng Qinwen once said: "I can't imagine the pain that stagnation brings me. That's how she treats failure. At the 2022 French Open, she faced the double trouble of menstrual period and leg injury, so she actually removed the bandage in the deciding set and insisted on 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. "At the 2023 Zhuhai station, Zheng Qinwen took painkillers to finish the race. "If I could have been a little more determined inside, I would have had a chance today, even in such physical conditions," she said. This resilience to pain was also reflected in the Australian Open final.
Zheng Qinwen expressed her disappointment with her performance after the match, saying: "I always feel that I can do better, but I didn't do it today, and then maybe I feel that I blame myself more, and I need time to calm down." It's a rare display of frustration, but it's also something that professional athletes have to face. Zheng Qinwen knows the pain of failure, but she never gives up easily. In the competition, she saved four championship points almost without a face, showing calmness and rationality beyond her years. Although it failed to rewrite the ending, for the 21-year-old Zheng, this moment of loss may turn into a new motivation to push her further.
Zheng Qinwen said after the final: "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 to improve. She is a firm believer in learning more from her failures and hopes to become a better and stronger tennis player in future competitions. Her persistence and requirements for herself may be the key to her greater success in the future.
On this cold winter night, Zheng Qinwen's journey to the Australian Open did not go as expected, but her enthusiasm, perseverance and growth will surely inject new vitality into Chinese tennis and set an example for more young players. Whatever the future holds, the 21-year-old has proven that she is not only the pride of Chinese tennis, but also a young idol to watch.