China News Service, Beijing, August 4 (Reporter Wang Hao) Zheng Qinwen, who was on the highest podium of the Olympic Games, smiled brightly. She raised the gold medal twice to show it to the audience, and then bit the heavy weight. Round metal. In Paris in August, Chinese tennis singles players tasted Olympic gold medals for the first time.
Apart from his smile, Zheng Qinwen did not express much emotion. The road to promotion was tough, and on the final day, her performance was so mature that she didn't look like she was only 21 years old. Walking on the road of creating history with his own unique attitude, Zheng Qinwen has wonderful knowns and infinite unknowns.
Olympic champion
Zheng Qinwen's French Open competition this year ended in the third round and failed to advance to the top 16. Naturally, she was not satisfied with this result. At the post-match press conference, she summarized the shortcomings in a clear and logical manner, and finally said: "Let's do it again next time."
That was in early June. At that time, the French Open official blog sent a message to Zheng Qinwen: "Looking forward to one day in the future, queen (Queen) Shine the brightest light at Roland Garros. "Most people probably didn't expect that day would come two months later - Zheng Qinwen came to Roland Garros and took away an Olympic gold medal.
As the most famous clay court in the world, Roland Garros has a history of nearly a century. It is the home of the French Open and the venue for the Paris Olympics. Due to the influence of the material, the ball speed on the clay court is relatively slow, the number of rounds is generally more, and it is very demanding on physical strength.
If Zheng Qinwen’s path to promotion before the Olympic finals was to be described in one word, many people might choose “tired”.
Data map: Zheng Qinwen in the game. Photographed by China News Service reporter Zhao Wenyu
In the quarter-finals, it took her 3 hours to reverse and defeat the former world No. 1 Kerber. Zheng Qinwen was moved to tears after the game. She said this was the most difficult game in her career.
In the semi-finals, Zheng Qinwen faced the current world number one Swiatek . The latter has a deep connection with Roland Garros and has won the French Open championship trophy four times here. However, in the Olympics, it was Zheng Qinwen who took away the victory this time.
Continuous high-intensity competition challenged Zheng Qinwen’s physical strength. After the semifinals, she was clearly tired. But Zheng Qinwen said: "If I were asked to play for another three hours now for the motherland, I would be able to play."
In tennis, a highly commercialized sport, professional players' time is almost filled with training and competitions. Under the special rules of the tour, "keeping points" is their most important task. But the Olympics are not part of the tour, they are special. What's special is that there are no points, and it's also special because the prefix of the players' names on the field is where they are from.
On the sidelines of the final, the Chinese audience, with five-star red flags painted on their faces, seemed more excited than the players on the field. They cheered for every ball Zheng Qinwen hit.
The physical problems that people worried about did not appear. Zheng Qinwen showed his determination to win from the first minute of the final. Neither was he too excited because this match was destined to create history, nor was he timid because he was close to China's first Olympic tennis singles gold medal.
On August 3, local time, in the women's singles tennis competition at the Paris Olympic Games, Chinese player Zheng Qinwen defeated Croatian player Vekic 2-0 and won the gold medal. The picture shows Zheng Qinwen celebrating his victory. Photo by China News Service reporter Tomita
As predicted by the French official blog, "the queen will shine the most dazzlingly at Roland Garros." After the last ball, Zheng Qinwen lay on the ground and took a breath, then stood up and showed the audience the smile of an Olympic champion. The way she wore the national flag illuminated Roland Garros this night.
In an interview after the game, Zheng Qinwen showed off her honor: "I don't know if all gold medals look the same, but tennis gold medals look like this."
Genius girl
This is not the first time for 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen As a surprise to Chinese fans, Zheng Qinwen won the runner-up at the Australian Open in January this year.
On January 25, 2014, after Li Na hit a forehand return, she waited for her opponent's mistake. At Rod Laver Arena, she won the Australian Open women's singles championship, an honor that had never been won by an Asian before.
That day was the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, not long after the Little New Year. At the Jianghan Second Bridge Training Base of the Wuhan Municipal Sports Bureau, the young team members gathered in front of the TV to watch the Australian Open final. An 11-year-old girl faced the camera and said: "I also want to stand on the Grand Slam court and compete for the championship in the future."
Ten years later, it happened to be January 25th. This little girl swept her opponents 2:0 and entered the Australian Open women's singles final. This is Zheng Qinwen. At the age of 21, she became the youngest Chinese player to advance to a Grand Slam singles final.
On January 25th, Beijing time, Zheng Qinwen was in the women's singles semifinals of the Australian Tennis Open.
Zheng Qinwen’s father, Zheng Jianping, was a track and field athlete, and his innate sports talent was quickly reflected in Zheng Qinwen. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Zheng Qinwen followed his father to watch the games and was deeply attracted by tennis ever since.
The characteristics of athletes will be revealed at a young age. As a child, Zheng Qinwen once experienced three hours of unshakable "devil training" every day. After entering the adult arena, she still worked hard. Starting in the summer of 2020, Zheng Qinwen participated in nearly 30 competitions in more than a year.
She is willing to endure hardships and has an almost crazy obsession with offense. The 12-year-old Zheng Qinwen can serve at a speed of 170 kilometers per hour. This data is rare even in the world. Once during a game, her serve even broke the opponent's receiver's bone. This fiery style of play can still be seen today, and Zheng Qinwen's games are always entertaining to watch.
With the help of talent and hard work, Zheng Qinwen gradually entered the public eye. More and more people know that there is a young player from China who can play such wonderful shots.
2024 is a year when talented girls continue to create history. The Australian Open at the beginning of the year was a good start, but unfortunately, Zheng Qinwen lost in the final. She maintained her demeanor in the post-game interview, but she could not hide her disappointment and her eyes were a little moist.
"I always feel that I can do better, but I didn't do it today." At the post-match press conference, Zheng Qinwen choked up and summarized his performance. Obviously, she expected much more from herself. When the time comes to midsummer, these expectations begin to be fulfilled one by one.
On August 3, local time, in the women's tennis singles competition at the Paris Olympic Games, Chinese player Zheng Qinwen defeated Croatian player Vekic 2-0 and won the gold medal. The picture shows Zheng Qinwen kissing the gold medal. Photo by China News Service reporter Tomita
Waiting for definition
In the eighth game of the second set of the Olympic women's singles final, the opponent's ball in front of the net was of poor quality. Zheng Qinwen's powerful high pressure scored directly. This good shot made the opponent directly Dropped the racket. But even when he was leading, Zheng Qinwen's body language showed no signs of relaxation. The opponent saved and broke points continuously, but Zheng Qinwen's defense was more tenacious.
Zheng Qinwen had the last laugh in this game. Ten minutes later, she won the second set. 2:0, this score and her championship were written into the history of Chinese sports.
Throughout the game, Zheng Qinwen’s expression did not change much, and it was difficult for others to interpret the direction of the game from her face. Judging from the content of the game, she made almost no mistakes. In perhaps the most important game of her career to date, she was extremely focused and calm.
fire, literally translated as "fire" in Chinese. This is Zheng Qinwen’s English nickname, and it is also the external expression of her personality - "burning on the court, very competitive, and wants to defeat her opponents."
Whether it is her playing style or personality, Zheng Qinwen is very consistent with the characteristics of "fire". A burning vitality can be seen at any time. On the stage of the Olympic finals, this flame did not seem to be so huge, but it silently surrounded the opponent step by step and steadily illuminated the gold medal.
For Zheng Qinwen, who is only 21 years old, this is of course a new starting point for the future. She proved in Paris that she can maintain a stable mentality at the top, and earlier, she has proven that she will not give up at the bottom.
Data picture: Zheng Qinwen celebrates the victory of the game.
For Zheng Qinwen, the experience of the past year was far from smooth sailing. She failed in the second round of the Australian Open and French Open. At Wimbledon, he even experienced his first round trip to a Grand Slam in his career.
"I don't think my strength will go down. I will still practice hard and prepare for the next stop (competition)." Zheng Qinwen, who has realized that haste makes waste, is not reconciled.
In the women’s singles competition of the Zhuhai wta Super Elite held at the end of October last year, Zheng Qinwen finally won the runner-up. His goal of entering the top ten in the world that season was not achieved.
In that final, she took painkillers and played with a bandage. She said that even though she lost the game, she was still proud of herself: "I persisted in finishing the game in the same physical condition as today, and it was very close. I admire myself very much for the score. My opponent played well and I tried my best.”
This may be why everyone calls Zheng Qinwen “queen wen”. She is always pursuing better results, but she also understands the importance of results. There are many other things that are equally important.
The Olympic champion title held every four years has already been held by Zheng Qinwen, and the Grand Slam tournament held four times a year is still waiting for her to conquer. What will be Zheng Qinwen's next title? This is still waiting for her to define it with each swing of the racket. After witnessing what happened in Paris, it is even more natural for people to have unlimited expectations for this. (End)
Source: China News Network
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