On May 13, Beijing time, in the fourth round of the 2024 WTA Rome station, the 22-year-old Chinese golden flower Zheng Qinwen fought the former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, and the game attracted much attention. Zheng Qinwen eliminated Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in straight sets 6-2, 6-4, and reached the top 8 of the tournament for the second consecutive year, which is also the fourth time in Zheng Qinwen's career that he has reached the top 8 of the 1000 tournament.
Zheng Qinwen was very well prepared for this matchup, and came to the court with a revenge mentality, and Zheng Qinwen's mood was very stable, and his competitive state was very good, he easily won the first set 6-2, and won 5 games in a row, Naomi Osaka had no power to fight back at all, and there may be a problem with his mentality. In the second set, Zheng Qinwen hit 2-0 again, and Naomi Osaka then launched a counterattack, but Zheng Qinwen was very powerful at the critical moment, and he was very stable without panicking the ball, and he still won 6-4, and the big score was 2-0 revenge. Zheng Qinwen played his best performance this year and lived up to everyone's trust.
Japan's Naomi Osaka, a former world No. 1, defeated Zheng Qinwen in her last matchup, and after this loss, Zheng Qinwen and Naomi Osaka's head-to-head record became 1-1. Zheng Qinwen is 5 years younger than Naomi Osaka, she already has the strength to compete with the first sister in Japan, as long as she continues to work hard, Zheng Qinwen is expected to achieve greater achievements. Naomi Osaka, 27, is a two-time US Open women's singles champion and Australian Open women's singles champion in 2019 and 2021.
Zheng Qinwen won this focus battle, the gold content is extremely high, and she played a career masterpiece. With this key victory, Zheng Qinwen scored 215 points and won 99,160 US dollars, which translates to 720,000 yuan. There is no doubt that this is already quite a high bonus. National table tennis won 5 crowns at this year's Saudi Grand Slam, Wang Chuqin was crowned the triple crown winner, and won three gold medals in men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles, and his total prize money added up to only about 600,000, while Zheng Qinwen won more than 700,000 yuan when he reached the top 8 in Rome. I have to say that tennis is indeed a world-class sport, and the prize money is also very high, as long as you become a top athlete, you will definitely get a lot of money, and there will be a steady stream of commercial endorsements. In the next round, Zheng Qinwen will face the winner between Gauff and Badosa.
After the game, CCTV also sent a congratulatory message to Zheng Qinwen. Zheng Qinwen is expected to continue to break through herself, she has reached the last eight for the second year in a row, and the best record of a Chinese player in Rome 1000 is a runner-up. In 2012, legendary Chinese tennis player Li Na was runner-up, and she reached the semi-finals in 2011 and the quarter-finals in 2014.