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On January 17, the first round of the 2022 Australian Open main round began, and Tianjin girl Wang Qiang surprised Chinese fans by defeating the No. 18 seed of the tournament, who had never won before, and the American Gauff, advanced to the second round. In an interview with a reporter from New Horizons in Sports after the game, Wang Qiang also said: "We must send this victory to our hometown Tianjin, which is fighting the epidemic with all its might. ”
Before the Australian Open began, Wang Qiang participated in two tour tournaments in Melbourne and Adelaide, only to lose in the first round of the qualifiers. With a ranking of 100 outside, as a non-seeded player to Melbourne Park, the first round of the singles main round opponent is gauff, who has never defeated the American talented girl Gauff before, standing on the Margaret Court waiting for the game to start, Wang Qiang, who does not have much expectations in her heart.
Wang Qiang
Tianjin tennis player
In fact, I didn't think about it so much before the game, and including this game, the first two games, my state was not particularly good. In fact, before this game, I didn't have much hope, that is, I wanted to say that I could try to be myself on the field and try to play everything that the coach usually taught me.
Previously, Wang Qiang lost both battles against Gao Fu (Image source: screenshot of WTA's official website)
After the start of the game, Wang Qiang's performance was amazing, she played proactively from the beginning, using a sharp attack and exquisite line combination to mobilize Gauff and put pressure on her opponents. Just 1 hour and 13 minutes later, Gauff, who had made 38 unforced errors, lost 4-6, 2-6. When the fans marveled at Wang Qiang's outstanding performance, the Tianjin girl herself knew in her heart that it was the solid winter training that had worked.
Because in the previous winter training, the coach also changed some things for me, I also improved in terms of physical reserves, I met a new physical strength coach, he taught me a lot of muscle strength that I did not use before, including the way of running may be slightly changed. The biggest change was still my serve, and the forehand, the forehand offense, a little bit stronger than before.
Throughout the game, in Wang Qiang's coaching box, an elderly man wearing an Australian Hawthorne rugby club hat has always spared no effort to cheer Wang Qiang, he is Wang Qiang's current coach, 56-year-old Australian tennis star Pat Cash. In the on-site interview after the game, Pat Cash also became a topic that Wang Qiang could not get around, and the on-site host even joked about Wang Qiang with the black and white checkered turban that was favorite in the kash athlete period, and Wang Qiang also communicated with Cash generously, and she and the coach were becoming more and more tacit understanding.
We are now working together for a year, and we didn't meet much in the second half of last year because of the epidemic, and the things he let me practice and change are now slowly getting better, and I can slowly use them in the game.
Wang Qiang and Pat Cash began to try to cooperate at the end of 2020, the cooperation between the two was not smooth, at that time, after a 10-month offseason, Wang Qiang, who had just recovered from a waist injury, returned to the international arena, and under the guidance of Cash, she began to adjust her batting action to make the batting more powerful. The pain period brought by the change is inevitable, fortunately, Wang Qiang gritted his teeth and persevered, ushering in a small outbreak in last year's clay season, Parma station reached the final, the French Open also entered the second round, however, in the two events, Wang Qiang stopped the pace of progress is actually the same person - the American player Gauff. A year later, at the Australian Open, Wang Qiang finally crossed the hurdle of Gaofu, which was a gratifying breakthrough and a late gift.
Even if it is a late birthday gift, I also tell myself that thirty years old can also be!
Last Friday, Wang Qiang spent her 30th birthday in Australia, and the former tennis flower has also entered a new stage in her life. In recent years, Wang Qiang has repeatedly performed well in the Australian Open, in 2019, she even Kefello and Clunic broke into the third round of women's singles; in 2020, she was even more soaring, and won the "Rose War" with the "Queen of Tennis" Serena Williams, a historic fourth round; in the first round of this year's Australian Open, Wang Qiang defeated the old enemy Gauff, and she began to slowly like this blue stadium.
Every time in the Australian Open there will always be a particularly good breakthrough, the audience on the Australian Open side is also very supportive of me, including many Chinese fans are also very supportive of me, I am very happy, and eating Chinese food here is also very convenient, I have a feeling like playing in the local game.
Although she is far away in Melbourne, Australia, Wang Qiang has always been concerned about the epidemic situation in her hometown of Tianjin. When the people of Tianjin showed a positive attitude and optimistic spirit in the process of hardening the "Omicron", Wang Qiang also cheered for her hometown with her precious victories in the Grand Slam arena.
Everyone has the responsibility to prevent and control the epidemic, and I hope that everyone will protect themselves and take protective measures. Wash your hands frequently, wear masks, do a good job of disinfection, hope to bring you more exciting games, everyone watch my games on TV, don't go out, avoid going to some places where people are concentrated.
Wang Qiang and his team members (Image source: Wang Qiang's personal social media)
Wang Qiang has always been a responsible and responsible tennis player. In order to play well in the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Shaanxi National Games last year, Wang Qiang chose to return to China to prepare for the war after the end of the French Open, and in her view, it was a special honor to represent the motherland and hometown, and she had an unshirkable responsibility. Wang Qiang's efforts have also paid off, and she successfully defended her women's singles championship at the Shaanxi National Games. From the Olympic Games to the National Games, Wang Qiang and several other Jinhua experienced a long period of closed-loop management and spent an unforgettable time at the Tianjin Tennis Center, which is the base camp for transit between the Olympic Games and the National Games.
During that time, it should be a concentrated training, the things that are usually lacking and the bad things are practiced a little, and then strengthen the physical fitness. In those days, the Tianjin Tennis Center gave me a lot of help, whether it was a coach or sparring partner, including in terms of diet, as long as I made a request, they could meet me, thank you very much for the center to provide us with such a good service during the quarantine period, and I was also very fulfilling in the days of tianjin quarantine.
For Wang Qiang, the 2022 season is a new start, and she hopes to win a few more games at the Australian Open, take more points, and then attack the top 50 rankings. After winning Gauff, Wang Qiang's second-round opponent is Belgian Van Ujfank, looking forward to the beautiful roses blooming again at Melbourne Park.