Zheng Qinwen won China’s first ever tennis gold medal on Saturday after breezing past Donna Vekic.
If you hadn’t remembered Zheng Qinwen for her historic run to the Australian Open final in January this year, you certainly were reminded of her ability this week.
A formidable run saw the 21-year-old win Olympic gold after having been match point down against Emma Navarro in their frosty R16 match.
Zheng pulled off the shock of the summer by beating four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, with the Pole’s 25 match unbeaten run at Roland Garros coming to an excruciating end.
With a huge variety of powerful shots, she simply outgunned Donna Vekic in the final, collapsing to the ground after clinching the gold for China.
Zheng Qinwen describes how it felt to serve for the Olympic gold
Having only ever reach a major final this year, where she was fiercely outplayed by Aryna Sabalenka, the pressure was all on Zheng to close this one out.
Describing these final tense moments, Zheng revealed in quotes reported by Tennis.com: “The last point, I’m really nervous. My hand is shaking, actually! Actually every match, when I go to the bathroom, my body is shaking. I never felt so hungry like this to win a match, and I wanted to give everything that I have.”
Thrilled that she managed to hold her nerve after securing the crucial break at 3-4, she continued: “I know tennis doesn’t work like this, that you don’t always get the result you want but I feel super proud of myself that this time, I beat the pressure and the limits of myself.”
It was a momentous day for China, after Li Na’s exploits at her home games in Beijing 16 years ago, saw her narrowly slip in the bronze medal match and go away with nothing.
Filled with patriotism and pride, Zheng added: “Since I was a little kid, I always wanted to medal for my country. And this time, I made it and I’m so happy to make history because when I was watching players make history, I always wanted to be one of them.”
What can Qinwen Zheng achieve next?
After Zheng won her first WTA Tour tournament in 2023 in Palermo defeating Jasmine Paolini, she successfully defended the title this year before heading to Paris, meaning her Olympic victory moves her to 11 matches unbeaten.
A run to the last eight at the 2023 US Open saw the Chinese number one fall to the eventual runner-up Sabalenka.
Despite the Olympic field being slightly weaker than it could have been, with Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, and Ons Jabeur all missing the games, Zheng’s victory against Swiatek on clay proves that her ultimate triumph had little to do with any such player depletion.
Her athleticism and aggressive ball-striking is so similar to that of the current top five and with Zheng’s record-breaking Olympics run sending a big message to her rivals, she is going to take some stopping.
The spanner in the works however might be the large amounts of points Zheng now has to defend in Melbourne, with last year’s run to the final somehow seeing her face no seeded player until the last two.
Needless to say, the spotlight will be on Zheng over the coming months to see if she can carry this recent form through.
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