“The Pressure of a Final in China…”: Leading Scribe Lauds Qinwen Zheng After Recalling Li Na’s Anecdote

One can easily imagine the immense pressure on Qinwen Zheng’s shoulders after playing consecutive WTA 1000 tournaments on her home soil. With high expectations from the local fans, Zheng would undoubtedly be disheartened not to have fulfilled their wishes. To shed light on this, sports journalist Jon Wertheim cited the example of a former Chinese player to explain Zheng’s mindset in detail.

In his recent appearance at the Andy Roddick podcast, Served, Wertheim praised Zheng’s brilliant performance this season, but also touched upon her two near-misses at home. After failing to cross the semifinal hurdle in the Beijing Open, Zheng fell in the final of the Wuhan Open to Aryna Sabalenka.

Recalling the words of former tennis player Li Na, the journalist revealed how Chinese players face additional pressure to play in their country rather than anywhere else, including a Grand Slam. He believes it has to do with expectations from their federation and fans.

“Li Na used to say that she had more pressure, playing these events in China than she did playing in the finals of majors. We have heard from Chinese players saying even like I care more about the Asian Games performance than how I play at Wimbledon,” stated Wertheim.

Given the country’s historical success in tournaments such as the Asian Games and Olympics, it’s no surprise that their focus is more on these events.

On the back of her gold medal win at the 2024 Paris Olympics, fan expectations soared. They likely anticipated her clinching at least one title at the Beijing Open or the Wuhan Open. However, it wasn’t to be.

 

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Negative publicity around Zheng

Despite playing amazing tennis in recent months, she has occasionally received negative publicity for allegedly showing hostility toward her opponents.

It first started when American tennis player Emma Navarro told Qinwen Zheng that she didn’t respect her as a “competitor” following her loss to the Chinese player in the third round of the 2024 Olympics. During their post-match handshake, Navarro passes some comments to Zheng. Revealing the details of the communication in the post-match press conference, she said,

“I just told her I didn’t respect her as a competitor… I think she goes about things in a pretty cut-throat way. It makes for a locker room that doesn’t have a lot of camaraderie, so it’s tough to face an opponent like that, who I really don’t respect.”

However, Zheng responded to Navarro’s statement calmly and invited her to discuss it personally so that she could make positive changes in her behavior. The Chinese player also received support from fans who believed Navarro was at fault.

But Zheng caused another stir when she shook hands with Aryna Sabalenka, the 2024 Wuhan Open champion, in a cold manner after losing the final. It did not sit well with some social media users, who voiced their opinions against it.

It’s understandable that a player’s mindset might not be in the right place after losing a final. However, Zheng’s constant tendency to attract unwanted attention for her actions may not be well-received by her fans in the long run. She is still only 22. Hence, there is plenty of time for her to improve in this regard.