Qinwen Zheng has stormed into the WTA Finals championship match but Martina Hingis has just one concern.
The 22-year-old continued her fine form by reaching the final in Riyadh, where she will face World number three Coco Gauff.
The Chinese number one defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejčíková in the semi-finals to give herself a chance of clinching the season-ending championships.
If Zheng were to clinch the titlems he would end the year with her fourth championship trophy.
What is Martina Hingis’ concern for Qinwen Zheng?
While she showed great promise in 2022 and 2023, 2024 has certainly been a breakout year for Qinwen Zheng.
Zheng became Olympic champion in Paris, reached her first Grand Slam final and is now a mainstay in the WTA’s top 10.
Zheng entered the WTA Finals fresh off winning the Tokyo Open and she hopes to end her magnificent Asian swing with victory in Riyadh.
Five-time Grand Slam winner Martina Hingis has been very impressed with Zheng’s progress and hopes an injury does not derail her rise to becoming a top star.
“She has got somehow stronger and also mentally more involved. She has got the feel for winning. For Asian players in general it’s the mental part to be successful and that confidence,” Hingis told Sky Sports.
“Becoming such a star, she is much more happy within her own body and being in the court. I just hope she doesn’t get injured.
“Because the more you play, and also the technique on her forehand is not as smooth, it’s more mechanical but she has improved every element of the game and she is very strong.” She added: “Especially coming from a country like China you have so many opportunities.
“On the other hand you can be distracted and it might be overwhelming but the gold medal catapulted her into a different atmosphere! Also the Australian Open finalist so that’s where it all started and we got to know her a bit better.”
Qinwen Zheng looks ahead to WTA Finals battle against Coco Gauff
In just their second meeting Zheng took on Krejčíková for a spot in the WTA Finals championship match. She hit 23 winners as she outlasted the Czech player 6-3, 7-5 and defeated her for the second successive match.
She has now won 31 of 36 matches since Wimbledon and has lost just two matches since the start of the Asian swing. She aims to take that form into the final when she plays Gauff for the right to be called the WTA Finals champion.
“It feels so special,” Zheng said in her on-court interview. “This is my first WTA Finals and I’m in a final. That’s really unbelievable.
“It was tricky because at 3-0 I think I dropped my focus, my performance went down and then she played more free.
“I didn’t panic, I just said let’s get back my focus. It was a really hard match for me but it just shows I’m mentally strong.”
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