English homophony pronounced Queen Wen, Zheng Qinwen: I like it very much! Please, that's the Queen

The young Chinese Jinhua Zheng Qinwen finally waited for the results she wanted.

On the morning of September 5, Beijing time, in the 2023 US Open women's singles 1/8 final, Zheng Qinwen defeated the No. 5 seed and last year's US Open runner-up Abdul-Jabbar in straight sets 6:2, 6:4, and reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career, becoming the sixth Chinese Jinhua to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam singles. Zheng will face the tournament's No. 2 seed Sabalenka, who will soon reach world number one in the next round.

In the post-match interview, the host mentioned the English pronunciation of Zheng Qinwen's name, "Many fans homonymize Qin Wen as Queen Wen, do you think more fans will call you that in the future?" Zheng Qinwen smiled and accepted all the orders in fluent English: "Of course, I especially like the name Queen Wen, please, that's Queen!" ”

"I have been waiting for this moment to come, from the beginning of the year until now"

Reaching the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, Cheng said: "It's honestly a great feeling, especially when you win a match point. It's the happiest moment I've had on the tennis court in years. I feel like this is an important victory for me, a breakthrough. Especially I played excellent tennis today, I didn't win defensively, I relied entirely on my own initiative to win the game. I think there's a difference. ”

"When I was a kid, I rarely went online. But after becoming a professional, I felt that if I wanted to go further, I had to believe in that: to become more aggressive. When I have the opportunity, I must firmly grasp it and come to the front of the net. This will be an important change and growth for my tennis. ”

Zheng Qinwen is an aggressive style of play, but this year he has not played at all at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Talking about whether he doubted himself when he fell into the trough, Zheng Qinwen said, "To be honest no, I have been waiting for this moment to come. At the beginning of the year I thought it would come soon, and by then I was so concerned about the results that I lost a little patience – like thinking too far on the field, thinking about what would happen if I won and what would happen if I lost. In this case, you lose focus and don't focus on the present moment, which has a big impact on my tennis. You can see I made a lot of mistakes at the time... Of course I'm happy to be here, but I wouldn't describe it as a 'surprise' because I know what I'm capable of. I knew that if I wanted to do it, I had to be completely focused and not think too far. I don't want to make the same mistakes as I did at the beginning of the year. ”

Playing more actively and aggressively is also the help that Coach Fessett brought to Zheng Qinwen. "He always told me to believe in myself and I think that's key. The other thing is that he keeps asking me to play more aggressively than I think, because sometimes I lose because I don't play aggressively enough. For example, at this year's French Open, I felt that I might have played too conservatively. ”

Zheng Qinwen also specifically mentioned Coach Fassett's help in his mentality: "I feel that my mentality is more stable now, and when I started working with him, I didn't have as big ups and downs as at the beginning of the year. I don't just mean the tennis court, but also the overall temper. I became a calmer person than someone who often lost his temper during training. It's really interesting to say so, but it's also true. ”

In fact, when the two first started working together this year, Zheng Qinwen was at a low ebb, and when the performance was poor, she complained that the coach was cheering her on on the sidelines too loudly, making herself unable to focus. Later, Fesett really stopped cheering loudly, but it was really not easy to shout and hold back the discomfort just now. In any case, Zheng Qinwen's bad mentality and short temper were finally temporarily cured.

Distressed Coach Fissett for 1 second.

"I want to be a player like Li Na, thank her for planting my dream"

As Zheng Qinwen said before, she has waited too long for this breakthrough moment. Because despite being only 20 years old, with her ability and talent, she should have reached where she is today, and she has always believed that there is no limit to her tennis ability.

"I've always believed that if I can play my best, most correct tennis, I can beat any opponent. Of course, the opponent will also have a good performance, so there will be a lot of fierce confrontation. But I believe that if I can fight for every point there, things will happen... Let's see how it goes. I will try to play my best on the pitch and enjoy the game. ”

Born in Shiyan, Hubei Province, Zheng Qinwen showed sports talent at the age of 6, and did not like to take a car when he went out, always liked to run to reach his destination. However, she had little interest in other sports, and she was deeply attracted to watch tennis at the Beijing Olympics.

Like Li Na, an icon of Chinese tennis, Zheng Qinwen is also from Hubei. Her tennis learning path replicates Li Na's trajectory: first under Li Na's enlightenment coach Xia Xiyao, and then under Yu Liqiao for training. At the 14th Hubei Provincial Games in 2014, 12-year-old Zheng Qinwen represented Shiyan in tennis and won two gold medals. Due to his outstanding performance, Zheng Qinwen entered the Wheel of Ingenuity Tennis School in Beijing, where he studied under Li Na's mentor Carlos.

On the road to learning the ball, Zheng Qinwen showed strength and speed and his peers were not at all in the same grade. Her style of play is known for her offensive bravery, and by the age of 12, her serving speed has reached 170 km/h, or 47 m/s, which is relatively rare in the country and even the world. At a national competition that year, her serve fractured her opponent's receiving hand, which shows her power.

In 2018, at the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships held at IMG Academy in Florida, USA, Zheng Qinwen won the U18 championship. Zheng Qinwen then won the runner-up in the orange bowl. In 2019, Zheng Qinwen reached the semifinals in the junior division of the French Open and US Open. As a teenager, Zheng Qinwen ranked as high as 6th in the world.

In 2020, Zheng Qinwen won the first adult championship at the International Tennis Tour Cordenongs. In 2022, Zheng Qinwen reached the Australian Open main draw and made his career debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam. In the third round of the French Open, Zheng Qinwen became the fourth Chinese Jinhua to reach the round of 16 at the French Open after Zheng Jie, Li Na and Zhang Shuai.

In 2023, WTA1000 the fourth round of the women's singles in Rome, Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese Jinhua to advance to the quarterfinals in Rome since Li Na and Zhang Shuai in 2014. In the 2023 WTA250 Palermo women's singles final, Zheng Qinwen won the first career title.

Inspired by idols, she also unknowingly followed in the footsteps of idols.

Then time came today, and the 20-year-old Cheng Qinwen defeated the world's top 10 players for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament and reached the US Open quarterfinals and Grand Slam quarterfinals for the first time. She also became the sixth Chinese female tennis player in history to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam singles, placing her name alongside her idol Li Na and other outstanding predecessors.

After reaching the quarterfinals of this year's US Open, Zheng Qinwen also talked about the impact of Li Na's achievements on her: "When Li Na won the French Open, becoming the first Asian to win a Grand Slam title really inspired a lot of children, especially me. That's when I started thinking: Asians can win Grand Slam titles on a big stage like that. Because until then, tennis was not a popular sport in China. My parents didn't know what tennis was until I played tennis. So since Li Na, tennis has become more and more popular in China. Thank you also to her for planting the seed of a dream for me to become a player like her. ”

Reporter: Luo Ning Editor: Luo Ning Photo: Xinhua News Agency