Qinwen Zheng’s remarkable season has seen her establish herself in the world’s top ten.
When Qinwen Zheng won Olympic gold earlier this year in Paris, she catapulted herself into Chinese superstardom.
Zheng was a losing finalist at the Australian Open this year and fell just short at the Wuhan Open earlier this month.
That combination of results has helped Zheng rise to seventh in the WTA rankings, a career-high for the 22-year-old.
Qinwen Zheng becomes the first Chinese athlete to cover Vogue China
Starring on the cover of the November edition of Chinese Vogue, Zheng has broken even more new ground in a stellar year.
With Chinese Vogue’s 34 million strong readership, the nation’s exposure to Zheng is only going to increase, as she fast develops into a household name in China.
Considering the dominance of Chinese athletes in international sports, especially at the Olympic games, Zheng being the first to break through onto the cover of Chinese Vogue speaks to her personality and stature within the game.
Her personality, however, has been criticized at times on the WTA tour, most notably after Qinwen Zheng shouted at a line umpire during the Wuhan Open Final.
Could Qinwen Zheng win the WTA Finals?
The Chinese athlete has already qualified for this year’s WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia and will be up against the likes of Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Elena Rybakina at the event.
Entering as an outsider, the pressure should be off for Zheng, but with the results and performances that she’s had so far in 2024, there will be no doubts that she can compete with the very best.
On route to winning gold earlier this year, Qinwen Zheng knocked out heavy favorite Swiatek at the Paris Olympic Games.
However, whilst Zheng has fared well against Swiatek, Sabalenka, another strong contender for the title, has managed to get the better of the 22-year-old in two of the biggest matches of Zheng’s young career to date in the Australian and Wuhan Open Finals.
Zheng will return to action at the Ningbo Open on Thursday.
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