On the evening of July 31, Zheng Qinwen, the number one player of the Chinese women's tennis, once again experienced a three-hour fierce battle at the Paris Olympics, and once again had the last laugh through the tiebreaker. Her opponent, former Grand Slam champion Kerber, also won applause from the crowd with his tenacious performance. The win made Zheng Qinwen the second Chinese player to reach the semifinals of the women's singles at the Olympics after Li Na in 2008.
Zheng Qinwen, as the sixth seed in this Olympic Games, has suffered a tough battle after easily advancing in the previous two rounds. After beating Navarro in a three-hour tie-break, Zheng Qinwen welcomed former Grand Slam champion Kerber. Kerber, who is 15 years older than Zheng and is ranked only 218th in the world, is relying on ranking protection to compete in the Olympics. However, the veteran showed the level of a Grand Slam champion at this Olympics.
At the beginning of the first set, Zheng Qinwen was caught off guard by Kerber and was broken when he came up. Zheng Qinwen, who is eager to win, staged a rollercoaster plot again in the first set. Zheng Qinwen chased from 1-3 down to 5-3 serve to win the set, but was broken by his opponent. Under the pressure of Zheng Qinwen, he made a force in the opponent's serve to win the set and dragged the game into a tie-break. The experienced Kerber once again scored a crucial point at the end of the tie-break to win the first set in one go. This is Zheng Qinwen's second consecutive Olympic game loss in the first set tie-break.
Zheng maintained his mental steady, launching an onslaught early in the second set and breaking Kerber's serve after six ties. Although he has since been broken by his opponent, Zheng Qinwen's confidence has improved significantly. After achieving the key break again, Zheng Qinwen equalized the set 6-4.
Entering the deciding set, Kerber's tenacity was beyond Zheng Qinwen's expectations, and Zheng Qinwen once forced a tie seven times in the opponent's service game, but failed to break back. The 36-year-old Kerber took a 5-4 lead after successfully holding serve. Both men then showed tenacious fighting spirit, and the match went into a tie-break again. This time, Zheng Qinwen scored 4 points in a row at the beginning and led 4-1. When the game reached 5-3, Zheng Qinwen not only lost his physical fitness, but also his mind was a little dazed, and he also asked the referee if he won the game if he played seven.
After that, Zheng Qinwen won 3 match points 6-3, but was saved by the veteran tenaciously one by one. When Zheng Qinwen finally won the game at the fourth match point, she cried with joy and fell to the ground to celebrate. This was a severe lesson given to Zheng Qinwen by a German veteran, and Zheng Qinwen withstood the test.
This victory gave Zheng Qinwen a deep understanding of the motto engraved on the Roland Garros Centre Court: "Victory belongs to the most tenacious." Relying on tenacity and indomitable spirit, Zheng Qinwen advanced to the semifinals of the women's singles at this Olympic Games. After Li Na reached the semi-finals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Zheng Qinwen is alongside the Chinese tennis legend 16 years later. Zheng will next await the winner of the match between world No. 1 Swiatek and United States veteran Collins.
Text/Beiqing Sports Chu Peng