Chinese star Qinwen Zheng has captured the hearts of tennis fans with her inspiring journey to the Olympic final. After a grueling semi-final match, Zheng brushed off any concerns of fatigue or fitness ahead of her upcoming matchup against Donna Vekic with a strong statement.
“I’m tired but tell me to play now another three hours for my country, I would do it,” Zheng was quoted as saying after her memorable win against World No.1 Iga Swiatek.
Interestingly, Zheng’s role model is Novak Djokovic. And after his quarter-final win over Stefanos Tsitsipas, he was asked to talk about his knee injury. While Djokovic admitted that he is worried about it since he aggravated it during the match, but he had similar words as Zheng when it comes to confirming his participation in the semifinals.
“These are very rare chances to fight for a medal for my country. So I’m going to do everything possible in the next — less than 24 hours to put myself in a position to fight for Serbia,” Djokovic said in the post-match interview.
This parallel between Zheng and Djokovic is quite incredible. While Zheng’s road to the final has been remarkable, her eyes are on becoming the first Chinese player in history to win an Olympics gold medal in tennis.
On the other hand, Djokovic has a shot at an honor that has eluded him throughout his career – An Olympics men’s singles gold medal. But he will have to beat Lorenzo Musetti in the semifinals to have a shot at it and seeing the Italian’s momentum and form, that might not be a simple task for the former World No.1.
Zheng is definitely inspired by Djokovic’s tenacity and ability to keep things real and simple. Just like the Serb, the Chinese star is expressive on court and not afraid of any of her opponents.
Recently, Djokovic was lauded for his post on women’s tennis on social media. The Serb has been following Zheng’s progress and seeing her run at the Olympics, he did not shy away from congratulating her especially after she beat Swiatek at her fortress, the Roland Garros.
Despite being worried about his knee injury, Djokovic still took the time to congratulate his friends @DonnaVekic and Qinwen Zheng in making the @Olympics women’s final on his Instagram.
He is a class act both on and off the court. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/kFvJCywNRj
— Pavvy G (@pavyg) August 2, 2024
As both Zheng and Djokovic prepare for their respective high-stake matches, the anticipation is palpable. It would be quite a co-incidence to see the women’s and men’s singles gold medalists this year hail from countries outside the Western bloc, which is a very rare instance in tennis.
