In the much-anticipated "China Derby" in the third round of the women's singles at the 2024 Australian Open that ended on January 20th, Beijing time, the No. 12 seed and Chinese rising star Zheng Qinwen fought fiercely in 3 sets and passed the cruel tie-break. In the competition, she defeated compatriot Wang Yafan 2-1 and reached the top 16 of the Australian Open women's singles for the first time in her career.
In this game, despite Zheng Qinwen’s strong start, he took the next set 6-4. However, the tenacious Wang Yafan launched a desperate counterattack in the second set and successfully regained the victory 6-2. In the deciding set, Zheng Qinwen took the lead in serving to win the game, but Wang Yafan successfully broke back to tie the set. Subsequently, the two sides launched a brutal tie-break. In the end, Zheng Qinwen withstood the pressure and won 10-8 with difficulty. The two Chinese players used a fierce battle of 2 hours and 40 minutes to present a wonderful tennis feast to the Australian Open audience.
After winning and advancing, Zheng Qinwen also set a number of records. First of all, this is the first time in her career that 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen has reached the top 16 of the Australian Open women's singles, and it is also the third time that she has reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam.
No. 2. Zheng Qinwen became the fifth female player from mainland China in the Open era. She has broken into the second week of the Grand Slam at least three times. She was also the youngest when achieving this achievement.
No. 3. Zheng Qinwen won 17 games in the first 25 Grand Slam main matches of his career. This data also tied Li Na's record in the same period.
Such a series of proud records also caused the Australian Open official website to directly put an eye-catching "crown" on Zheng Qinwen's match photo. The official tweet of the Australian Open even shouted excitedly: "Awesome! Queen"
After reaching the top 16 of the Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen faced French dark horse Dodin to compete for a top 8 seat. Due to Zheng Qinwen's 2/4 zone, other seeded players have been eliminated. If he performs normally, Zheng Qinwen has a chance to reach the top four, or even go further.
