"The gap between me and her is gradually closing. After being swept by Swiatek in straight sets in the United Cup, Zheng Qinwen, who failed to challenge the world No. 1 for the fifth time, was impressive.
It may be for this reason that when the Dubai draw was released, seeing that Zheng Qinwen, who had entered the ranks of top players at this time, was in the same half as Swiatek, the outside world was not only uneasy that China's first sister was in such a dead half, but also hoped that the sixth "Zheng War" could come as promised.
The outside world has this expectation, there is only one reason, when she did not enter the top ten in the world, Zheng Qinwen was always constantly self-motivated, thinking that the gap between her and Swiatek has been constantly narrowing, and now facing Swiatek as a top ten player in the world, I believe that Zheng Qinwen should be stronger than before in terms of motivation and combat effectiveness, because it is about justifying his name and honor.
Zheng Qinwen's performance in Dubai also lived up to everyone's expectations, and finally met Swiatek in the quarter-finals as promised, making this focus battle unpreferred.
Originally, the outside world did not have much hope that Zheng Qinwen might win in his sixth challenge to Swiatek. This is not to say that Zheng Qinwen lost more than one in the first five times, but in his debut in Dubai against the Japanese girl Hibino Nao, Zheng Qinwen struggled extremely in the face of such a second-rate and third-rate player, of course, there was no chance of winning against Swiatek, and Zheng Qinwen's body seemed to be in condition again in the game at that time, facing Swiatek, who was in the best form, why could Zheng Qinwen win the final victory?
However, in the third round, Zheng Qinwen's contest against Russia's rising star Potapova quickly dispelled this concern from the outside world.
Although Potapova's world ranking is not as high as Zheng Qinwen's, her strength has always been obvious to all, and she thought that physical reasons might bring more uncertainties to Zheng Qinwen, even if she lost in the end, it would not be surprising, but I didn't expect Zheng Qinwen to sweep Potapova in straight sets, which made people look at Zheng Qinwen with admiration.
Now by winning the battle of Potapova, everyone feels that the reason for Zheng Qinwen's new transformation is that he can still win the game with a disparity of 6-3 6-2 under the special circumstances of poor health, which is a must for any first-class player, Empress Serena Williams is like this, the same is true of the giant Deyo, and even Zheng Qinwen's next opponent Swiatek also has such an ability.
After Doha was eliminated ahead of schedule, many people thought that even if Zheng Qinwen won the Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen's progress was not obvious, but after this match against Potapova, the first sister of China more or less made people change their original views on her.
With a tougher mentality and stronger willpower, Zheng Qinwen can sweep away her previous defeat and soar in Dubai against Swiatek for the sixth time, which will not only be crucial for the rest of her career, but also highly anticipated.
However, everyone is still a little worried that when one person has lost to another as many as five times, will psychological timidity become the biggest constraint for Zheng Qinwen when he fights Swiatek, not to mention that the world No. 1 is already difficult to deal with.
Anyone who has watched Zheng Qinwen's match seems to have discovered that the Chinese sister is very good at playing downwind, and once the situation is at a disadvantage, or when it falls into a hard battle, especially against first-class masters like Swiatek, Sabalenka and Rybakina, it is particularly easy to lose rhythm, and then defeat becomes inevitable.
Therefore, Zheng Qinwen must change his current style if he wants to play tennis that he is satisfied with and give fans and netizens a new feeling when he plays against Swiatek for the sixth time.
Some people suggested that Zheng Qinwen should learn from Ostapenko, maybe he could find a glimmer of life for himself in this sixth time, and truly achieve phoenix nirvana and soar to the sky.
Ostapenko's dominance against Swiatek, who is considered invincible by many, has to do with her style of play. The former French Open champion has never followed the usual path, let alone sought stability, just doing everything he could, putting pressure on his opponent through violence, and then slowly creating opportunities for himself, which is why Ostapenko has become one of the biggest headaches for Swiatek.
If Zheng Qinwen wants to cross the trench of Swiatek in the quarterfinals in Dubai, and prove himself to the outside world while showing his personal strength, he must not be too stable and play decently, otherwise once he enters the rhythm that Swiatek likes, even if the Chinese sister Da Luo Jinxian is possessed, it may be difficult to take the victory from the world's No. 1 hand.
There is a very popular saying among fans and netizens, "Miracles are made by force, and violence sometimes makes people appreciate another shocking beauty." If Zheng Qinwen wants to defeat Swiatek, she may be able to ponder this sentence carefully and seriously understand the true meaning, especially when she emphasized in a recent interview that she wants to be a person like Queen Serena Williams and a hexagonal fighter in tennis, so against a strong opponent like Swiatech, it should be even more unusual.
Can Zheng Qinwen see the Phoenix soar from Dubai in his sixth encounter against Swiatek? The answer will be revealed at 11 o'clock this evening Beijing time! (*The House of Tennis by Moon River's Starry Sky).