Qinwen Zheng explains what's changed on her serve which hasn't happened in two years at the WTA Finals

Qinwen Zheng explains what’s changed on her serve which hasn’t happened in two years at the WTA Finals

Posted by Admin November 6, 2024 Tennis

Qinwen Zheng is delighted with how she is serving at the WTA Finals.

The Chinese number one is certainly making a big impression in her first appearance at the season-ending championships.

She needed to defeat Jasmine Paolini to ensure she qualified for the semi-finals, and she did so empathically.

Zheng lost just two games against the Italian and continued her undefeated streak against her in the process.

What did Qinwen Zheng say about her serve after reaching the last four at the WTA Finals?

Paolini, who struck just two winners in the first set, had no answer to Qinwen Zheng’s game.

But one of the 28-year-old biggest challenges was trying to combat Zheng’s serve, which has been destructive in 2024.

In the 67-minute 6-1, 6-1 victory, the Olympic champion struck 12 aces to extend her lead as the player on the WTA Tour player with the most aces in 2024.

Zheng has beautiful rhythm on serve at the moment, as Paolini struggled to contend with the pinpoint accuracy.

This is something the World number seven is pleased to have rediscovered, and explained she has not felt this way about that shot in two years.

“I was trying to make her play and make her play and then when I could, attack the ball,” Zheng said during an interview with Sky Sports. “I would give a lot of credit to my huge serve tonight because it’s been a while.

“The last time I felt strong on serve like this was in 2022, when I was 19 years old. Finally I start to find myself back!”

Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Qinwen Zheng enjoys 11-year first at WTA Finals

Zheng has enjoyed a stellar 2024 season, but she has been in scintillating form ever since making the US Open quarter-finals in September.

Since the beginning of the Asian swing in Beijing, she has made at least the semi-finals of every event, and she took the title in Tokyo.

She is on a mission to win the WTA Finals and she has made the semi-finals on debut. Zheng is the first player to achieve this feat since Petra Kvitova in 2011, who went on to win the title.

After her statement win over Paolini, Zheng expressed her pride in her performance in front of a crowd where she had plenty of fans.

“It’s one of the best performances I had during this year,” Zheng said on court afterwards. “Really good percentage of first serves. I enjoyed playing here a lot tonight.”