Zheng’s best results this season was reaching her first Grand Slam final, which came at January’s Australian Open and becoming Olympic champion at the Paris Games.

Her consistency throughout 2024 has earned her a spot in the season-ending championships and she will be a huge threat when the action commences in Riyadh in November.

Qinwen Zheng provides a fitness update with the WTA Finals on the horizon

Qinwen Zheng is currently competing at the Tokyo Open, where she is the top seed. The Chinese star entered the tournament coming off of two strong tournaments at her home events in Beijing and Wuhan.

She reached the semi-finals in the Chinese capital, before losing to new World number one Aryna Sabalenka in the Wuhan Open final.

Zheng is hoping for a strong run in Japan and is feeling refreshed after two draining events in China. “After Wuhan, physically and mentally I was really tired,” she said via the WTA website.

“But after almost a week off I came back again and I’m feeling more fresh. Also my body, compared to Wuhan, is much better.

“I’m just going to try and perform like all my matches I did before and let’s see what’s going to happen. The WTA Finals are really close, but first of all, I’m trying to keep my body healthy and then, talking about tennis, let’s see how it goes here.”

Who is Quiwen Zheng’s next opponent?

Zheng defeated Moyuka Uchijima 7-5, 6-0 at the Japan Open and she will now face Leylah Fernandez in the quarter-finals. This will be their second meeting in as many tournaments after the pair engaged in a fiery battle at the Wuhan Open.

During the first set, Zheng, who was playing at the end of the court where Fernandez’s team was sitting, turned to the Canadian’s father and asked if he could keep his voice down, after claiming he kept talking before she was due to return serve.

This caught Fernandez’s attention and she asked Zheng to “be respectful”. Zheng lost the first set but completed the comeback to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 and beat Fernandez for the first time.

“Actually, I was distracted in the first set by what the dad is saying because Leylah was on the other side,” Zheng explained afterwards.

“He was always talking, ‘C’mon, c’mon,’ before I start to return. That’s why I think I lost the game when I was 0-30, because I was a little bit distracted.

“After that he continued doing it. Plus the pain I had in the stomach, the fight against the opponent. One moment I cannot hold more. I said to him, ‘You must to talk before I start to return?’”

“After that actually I start to feel better, because that is what I have in my heart,” she continued. “I didn’t say anything unrespectful. I just say what I feel without a bad word.”

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