Qinwen Zheng is into the semi-finals of the Queen’s Club Championships at Emma Raducanu’s expense, dumping out the 22-year-old in front of home support.
It’s never a surprise when a British crowd roots for British players, and for the most part the English tennis-goers are often quite respectful.
However, on this particular occasion, there was cause for frustration aimed at the Chinese Olympic gold medalist.
Zheng consistently halted play throughout a staggered match, leaving many fans disgruntled by the lack of flow.
But, she has since insisted that she had to change her shoes as often as she did.
Qinwen Zheng reacts to the Queen’s crowd
Speaking at her post-match press conference, Zheng did admit she was a little confused by the backlash she received.
After all, as she goes on to say, there was little she could do to stop the problem.
Having been forced to change shoes multiple times, much to the dismay of the Queen’s Club Championships crowd, the reporter asked what forced her into that decision.
She responded: ‘Yes, because I still don’t know when I have to change my shoes on grass. I have been using these shoes for a long time. So you guys see I slipped already three times after two games during the match.
‘After that slip, I say, I have to go change the shoes or I’m gonna break my leg. But I didn’t know the crowd was so unhappy about my changing shoes. You know, it’s not what I can control that. But I think I perform better than when I was younger, because I keep my attitude really good. That was impressive for me.
‘Then, you know, it was not easy for me today to play in front of all the British crowd.’
Emma Raducanu also gave her thoughts on the constant stoppages: ‘I’m not sure what I can do in those moments, to be honest. I think, you know, it happened three times on my service game. I don’t think it’s necessarily, you know, ideal, let’s say. But I think, you know, the umpire makes his call. I can’t really do anything about it.
‘Maybe, you know, I think like the fact it happened three times on my serve, I feel like maybe something could have been done, but I’m not going to get into it.’
Qinwen Zheng admits she is improving on grass ahead of Wimbledon
Historically, grass has not been a surface where Zheng has played her best tennis, having never made it past the third round and exiting after just the first round in the last two years.
However, yesterday marked a solid win against a solid opponent, building on a hard-fought first-round triumph earlier in the week.
Asked what has helped her to improve on this surface, Zheng suggested: ‘I think just keep fighting, because, you know, for the first match, no one is feeling great, because we don’t get a lot of chance to practice on the grass, besides British players. I’m sure you guys were born to play grass.
‘So I was feeling better and better during the match. I start to know how I have to move on the grass court, which shot I need to attack, which shot I need to defend. I just believe in the grass season, the best improvement I can get is not during the practice; it’s during the match.’
The world number five finished by detailing the areas of her game that, particularly on grass, she has to improve: ‘I think in the grass court, the most important is to serve and return. Once you can make that and then focus on the next two shots, because on grass there is not many rallies, you will get a lot of advantage.
‘And especially, I would like to play more aggressive. But at the same time, knowing on grass I also need to defend, because I remember last year that I only attacked, I didn’t defend ever on grass. That’s why I think that’s in performance the best.
‘So this year I’m still trying to find my game, and I would like to go more forward to the net if I can.’
This comes after Mats Wilander told Zheng the area of her game that’s a complete liability, which she had notably improved in yesterday’s match.
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