Paris Olympics: Zheng Qinwen aims to inspire Chinese girls after historic tennis gold

Zheng dedicated the success to her parents, because “they sacrificed a lot for me”, and said her “behaviour, desire and hunger” on the hunt for Olympic gold were different from at any other tournament.

The 21-year – old Zheng became the first Asian player to win an Olympic singles title when she overpowered Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3 in Saturday’s gold medal match in Paris.

New Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen said she wanted to follow in the footsteps of Li Na and help girls in China fall in love with tennis.

Li – who, like Zheng, hails from Hubei province – won two grand slam titles in a stellar 15-year career. Zheng was a finalist at this year’s Australian Open, where Li won in 2014, but lost in straight sets to Aryna Sabalenka.

The 21-year-old Zheng became the first Asian player to win an Olympic singles title when she overpowered Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3 in Saturday’s gold medal match in Paris. Photo: Xinhua

Recalling that defeat in Melbourne, Zheng said she “had a lot of nerves … my legs were super-heavy and I could only perform at 50 per cent of my level”.

It was a contrasting story on the red clay of Roland Garros, where Zheng said she “jumped on the court”.

“I knew exactly what I had to do … I had every shot and every answer,” Zheng added. “In the worst case, I was just going to fight, like I did in all the other matches here.”

The best Li managed in an Olympics was fourth place at her home Beijing Games in 2008. Li’s subsequent exploits made her the poster girl for Chinese tennis – a position now assumed by ferocious hitter Zheng.

“Li Na was an inspiration for me and I always wanted to become one of the players who could inspire young kids, to make them love tennis,” Zheng, the world No 7, said.

“Tennis, for me, is such a great sport, especially for girls. You need to fight, you need to have strength, you need to be fast.

“Finally, I can to say to my family, to my father, ‘Come on, I just made history.’ In future, if I lose, I will say this to him. He treats the Olympic Games with more importance than any other event. I think all the Chinese fans think the same, me included.”

Zheng has won 12 straight matches, after adding her Olympics heroics to success at last month’s Palermo Open in Italy.

She survived a series of epic contests to reach the Paris final, including a pair of three-hour-plus matches in which she outlasted Emma Navarro and Angelique Kerber, then a first victory in seven attempts over world No 1 Iga Swiatek.

As her golden week reached its crescendo, Zheng, who is based in Barcelona and coached by Spaniard Pere Riba, was backed by a sizeable and vocal Chinese contingent on Court Philippe-Chatrier. As she strode out to serve for the first time, shouts of jiayou (“add oil”, in Mandarin), rained down from the stands.

Zheng Qinwen returns the ball to Croatia’s Donna Vekic during the Women’s Singles tennis final at the Roland Garros stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Photo: AP

“All the Chinese crowd were yelling for me – if I was still 19, I would have felt this was a pressure,” Zheng said. “But after these two years’ experience, with the crowd cheering for me, yelling in Chinese … it is a different feeling.

“I have an international [coaching] team, but I’m Chinese. It doesn’t matter where I go, I’ll remember I’m a Chinese athlete, I’m a Chinese player. It’s an international team because you always have to be better at your sport.”

Zheng revealed the lengths she went to in her formative years to equip herself for the highest level, and the essential role of supportive parents.

“My parents sacrificed a lot for me,” Zheng said. “When I was 12, my mum quit her job, so she could be around for me to play tennis.

“My father always pushed me hard. I remember at Chinese New Year, everybody got rest, but for me, there was no day of rest. He would take me to the track to run.

“He made me go up the stairs and come back. We did anything just to make the body work. My success is not only my success. I think a lot of it is from my parents.

Zheng Qinwen toppled Donna Vekic (left) and Iga Swiatek (right) to win the Olympic title. Photo: AFP

“They taught me how to be disciplined and how to stay focused on your dream. The most important thing is to always believe in yourself. They are not like other parents, who say ‘you can’t do it’. No, since I was nine, 10 years old, my father said, ‘One day, you will win the Olympics.’ I always believed that.”

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