Australian Open: Zheng Qinwen advances to finals, raising expectations in Chinese tennis world

On paper, this sounds like a fairy tale written by a Chinese tennis fan.

It’s been almost exactly 10 years since Li Na became China’s first Grand Slam champion by winning the Australian Open, and a new young Chinese player is looking to follow in her footsteps.

When Zheng Qinwen takes center court on Saturday, she will become only the second Chinese player in history to reach a major final.

That means the hopes of more than a billion Chinese people and the diaspora rest in her hands, but for a 21-year-old who just broke into the top 10 this week, there’s a bit of pressure on her.

Many of those new fans flocked around the TV screen to watch the story of the bright-eyed young star as she watched the woman who would become her hero, Li Na, win her first trophy for China at just eight years old. are superimposed.

“She planted a little seed in my heart that I want to be like her, and I want to be more than her,” Chung said in an interview with Tennis Channel last year in 2011. about Lee’s victory at Roland Garros.

Australian Open organizers also capitalized on that legend by organizing a surprise meeting at this year’s tournament.

“This is my first time talking to you,” she says, half to Lee, half to the camera. “She’s so beautiful in real life!”

She may have only just become a household name since qualifying for the Grand Final this week, but to those in the know, Chung has been in the spotlight for some time.

Last season, she worked with top coach Wim Fissette, before rejoining Naomi Osaka this year, but at that point Chung was working with Parc, the Spanish coach who guided Coco Gauff to the US Open title last year.・I met Mr. Levelle again.

“We’ve seen waves of solid Chinese tennis players time and time again. I mean top 30, sometimes top 20…but until Zheng Qinwen, no one has matched Li Na. “It was,” says Mark Dreyer. Author of Sporting Superpower, a book about China’s sporting ambitions.

“But the big difference is that she is only 21 years old. Li Na is already 29 years old and broke out much later in her career. For Zheng, she is very young and could have a long career ahead of her.” This could be a huge deal because of the nature of this.”

Like Li Na, Zheng also has support from major sponsors and management: Nike and IMG.

“I can tell you that we’ve been talking about her internally as a potential top-five player for at least a few years now,” Dryer said. “So I think this was a moment that was long overdue.”

Making her WTA debut in 2022, she reached the quarterfinals of the US Open after breaking into the top 100 last year, but lost to world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who she will play on court this Saturday.

Her similarities with her idols aren’t just limited to her playing performance. Zheng displays her same cheerful and friendly personality on the court that has captivated her fans around the world.

Her former coach, Fisset, described her in the New York Times as funny and as passionate about karaoke as she is tennis.

She also endeared herself to female fans in her debut season after talking about the menstrual pain that ended her stellar performance at the 2022 French Open.

“It’s all about the girls. The first day is always very hard, and then you have to play sports… It would be nice to be a man on the court, but in that moment you can’t. If you don’t have a stomach.” Pain More fun “I think I’ll be able to run, hit harder and put more effort on the court,” she said.

Dreyer said Chung “checks all the boxes” to become a global sports star, especially because she is fluent in English.

“When she does interviews on court, like Li Na did, people really greet Zheng warmly,” he says, noting the former champion’s famous sense of humor.

“Ms. Zheng doesn’t have the same level of humor, but she’s charming, smiles, and speaks clearly, so people warm to her.”

But furthermore, tennis players, especially in contrast to other athletes, receive huge exposure worldwide thanks to international tournaments, so star players like Li and now potentially Zheng are “This is the greatest soft power that the world has,” he says.

Li Na recently set the standard for the number of Chinese athletes active on the circuit. That means independent teams with foreign coaches, approved by but not under the control of national sports authorities.

However, for those at the top, there is also a difficult line to walk.

Former world number one doubles player Peng Shuai was effectively kicked out of the sport and many believe he was forced to retire in 2021 after accusing former Chinese vice-premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. .

The way Peng was treated just two years ago still lingers in the hearts of tennis fans. Beneath some videos of Zheng’s play in the tournament, a commentator wrote, “Where is Peng Shuai?”

There were also comments on Chinese social media after Zheng’s semi-final on Thursday suggesting that state CCTV, which live-streamed the match, delayed broadcasting the post-match interview to record viewership.

“Yes, she’s going to get awkward questions…but frankly, as a 21-year-old, what’s she supposed to say? I mean, it’s an impossible situation. We all know she’s I know I can’t stand there and say this or that,’ and that’s about what the situation may or may not be,” Dryer says.

She should be allowed to “grow and become the personality and character that she wants, without worrying too much about what she does or doesn’t say.”

He noted that of the four Chinese players who have reached Grand Slam semi-finals so far, all but Peng Shuai were seen courtside in Melbourne this week.

Li Na and other celebrities are likely to be at Rod Laver Arena again on Saturday night to “jiayu” and cheer on their country’s next tennis star. Zheng’s performance has attracted many Chinese spectators to the tournament, further increasing its status as a tournament in the Asia-Pacific region.

However, Chung is almost an underdog going into the finals. Due to her lucky results, she never faced a seeded player before passing the open tournament.

Sabalenka, on the other hand, is on a 13-fight winning streak, knocking out Coco Gauff in the semifinals. Chung himself calls her one of the biggest hitters on tour.

But she says she won’t let the history of this moment get to her. When asked about her fate in her Thursday postgame press conference, she laughed it off. And Zheng says Lee is giving her hints.

“She said don’t think about it too much and just do it.”