China’s Qinwen Zheng was crowned champion at the Bank of Communications Zhengzhou Open after defeating Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova 26 62 64 in the final on Sunday.
Zheng thrilled a capacity crowd at the Henan Provincial Stadium Center by fighting back after losing the first set to win in three sets to claim her first WTA 500 title and her first title on home soil.
Momentum swung in the match with Zheng struggling to find her serve in the first set, but a reset and a moment to talk to herself turned the match in her favour. Zheng will now move to a career-high ranking and is nearing her goal of reaching the top 10.
Qinwen Zheng said:
On leaving the court following the first set
“I said to myself, come on you cannot continue like this you cannot lose in this way, you did not show up, you didn’t play the way you have to play. I know you really want to win but let’s just focus on the present, don’t think about the result, just play point by point try to fight, try to make the ball alive to try to find the way to win the rally, don’t be too rushed and that’s what I said to myself, just be in the present, don’t think about the result.”
On the pressure of playing on home soil
“We are in Zhengzhou, in China, finally I have a chance to play in my country. I got a good preparation, my body is ready, everything is there. I’ve got a lot of pressure, you can see in the match, in the first set I was leading 2-0 in the end I lost 6 games in a row. There were a lot of up and downs but the important thing is to win the match whatever happens and right now I’m just feeling super happy and want to enjoy the time with my team. When I was on the court finishing the last point I was feeling super happy and all the crowd was shouting for me, they were fully supporting me, in that moment the feeling was unexplainable. At the end I’m really happy to win this match and beat such a great opponent in the final.”
“That was such a special experience to win my first WTA 500 title in China and especially in Zhengzhou”
On the progress she has made in 2023
“I feel really happy because I’ve made a lot of breakthroughs but honestly this came a little bit slower that my expectations. I remember at the beginning of the year I said I want to make top 10 by the end of the year and I couldn’t make it. I was really believing at that moment that I could have everything faster but I wanted too much and I was too much focused on the results so I could not keep myself more calm, focus on the process, focus on the present, I had a lot of mistakes like that so after these mistakes I now try to be more slow and think more, why it’s like that and take my time and here we are, I just won the championship.”
On showing her talents singing to the crowd during the trophy ceremony
“I like the song they played for me, but I couldn’t remember the rap moment I could only remember the rhythm part! Honestly I wanted to sing more on court, everyone knows I like to sing, I would like to have had more time to sing with the crowd some Chinese songs, it’s like the moment to enjoy the singing.”
Dabrowski and Routliffe take doubles title
The Bank of Communications Zhengzhou Open doubles title went to top seeds Gabriela Dabrowski from Canada and Erin Routliffe from New Zealand after they defeated third seeds Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara 62 64. The Canadian/Kiwi pairing who joined forces in August this year add the WTA 500 title to the US Open trophy they lifted last month.
Results – Sunday, Oct 15
F – [1] G. Dabrowski (CAN) / E. Routliffe (NZL) d. [3] S. Aoyama (JPN) / E. Shibahara (JPN) 62 64
F – Q. Zheng (CHN) d. [7] B. Krejcikova (CZE) 26 62 64
For all the scores, results, draws and info from Zhengzhou, CLICK HERE
So. Ute her singing her national anthem