Australian Open: 5 things you need to know about Zheng Qinwen, the Chinese tennis star too shy to speak to Rafael Nadal
- Zheng Qinwen, China’s 19-year-old tennis star picked up her first grand slam win on Monday, defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich in dramatic fashion
- The Chinese teen, who counts Roger Federer as her inspiration, admits she is still too shy to speak to Rafael Nadal
Zheng Qinwen picked up her first grand slam win in dramatic fashion on Monday, edging out a grinding 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
The surging 19-year-old is making her Australian Open debut and despite some early errors, managed to dig deep and rebound to clinch her first win. The No 111-ranked player now moves ahead to face Maria Sakkari in the second round and seems on track to meet her own ambitious targets of breaking the top 30 in 2022.
After such a big win, we thought it was time to learn more about Zheng and what makes her tick. So here are five fun facts you might not already know.
1. Zheng played many sports before settling on tennis
Zheng’s parents wanted to keep her active as a child and encouraged her to play sports. She started with table tennis but quickly looked for other options.
“I was fat as a kid and I would get sick often,” Zheng told WTA Insider. “So my parents told me to play sports and choose one. I tried badminton, I tried basketball, and I tried tennis.
“I chose tennis because I really liked the competition, especially the feeling of beating the opponent. Of course when you lose you feel so sad, you feel so down, you feel the world is broken for you. But the competition is what I love most about tennis.”
2. She trains in Spain with a former ATP player
Zheng, coached by Pere Riba Madrid and trains in Barcelona, credits her improvement over the last year to footwork and tactics.
