Rennae Stubbs shares her worry for Qinwen Zheng after her WTA Finals defeat to Coco Gauff.
The new World number five found herself within touching distance of winning the season-ending championships on multiple occasions in Riyadh.
But once again she proved why she is one of the most resilient players on tour as Coco Gauff battled back from the brink to secure her third and final title of 2024.
This is arguably the toughest loss of Zheng’s career so far, and it showed following the post-match handshake.
Rennae Stubbs shares her concern for Qinwen Zheng after the WTA Finals defeat
Qinwen Zheng will of course be disappointed after coming up short in an epic match against Gauff in Riyadh.
The 22-year-old entered the tournament in scintillating form after claiming the Tokyo Open crown and reaching the Beijing semi-finals and Wuhan final.
She was ahead for the majority of the WTA Finals championship match, but Gauff found her best tennis when she needed it most and played a solid final set tiebreak to win their epic three-hour encounter.
She shook hands with Gauff at the end and the manner in which it took place was concerning for Rennae Stubbs, who related it to Zheng’s comments before the WTA Finals about not being friends with her opponents.
“Did you see the handshake? She definitely is letting people know she does not care,” she said on her self-titled Rennae Stubbs podcast. “She doesn’t care about being friends with anyone – she has said it in press conferences.
“They are my essential enemies, they are players I have to play all the time, I don’t want to be friends with them. And I understand that, and respect that. But at the same time – woah. It becomes pretty tough out there.
“It’s just hard to be sitting in a locker room and I know, I played there for 22 years, and it’s hard when you are on your own.
“I know she has her friends and people travelling with her but it gets lonely in the locker room when you can’t have a bit of a joke.”
Qinwen Zheng looking ahead to 2025 after WTA finals loss
Zheng warned she would be a much tougher test for Gauff than during their first meeting at the Italian Open in May.
That statement was absolutely correct as the Chinese number one pushed Gauff to the limit and even served for the championship.
But Gauff’s resilience and experience in big matches dragged her back into contention and ultimately helped her win the match.
Despite the disappointing result for Zheng, she enjoyed her best season so far, which produced three titles, including the Olympic gold medal.
Now up to a career-high running World number five, Zheng is keen to build on performance this year in 2025. “It hurts to lose this match of course but I think it’s better I forget it and move on for my next steps,” she said.
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