Her fifth career WTA title, Zheng needed just under two hours to come through her first career meeting with 2020 Australian Open champion.

Claiming her first hard-court title of the season, Zheng made the final in Wuhan as well as the semi-finals in Beijing.

An Olympic title in Paris, as well as a run to the Australian Open final at the start of the year has helped Zheng bounce into the top 10 and qualify for the WTA finals in Saudi Arabia next month.

Qinwen Zheng looks on to debut WTA finals appearance

Coming at the end of a relentless year on the WTA Tour, the field of players who have qualified represent the very best of an already impressive crop of stars.

Zheng is no different and having picked up her third title of the year is looking in fine shape for Riyadh, where the finals will be hosted for the first time.

In what is a demonstration of her work ethic and drive, she immediately pivoted to her ambitions at the finals upon winning in Tokyo.

She told the WTA: “All the players [in Riyadh] are really tough to beat. Since the first match, [I] need to be focused. It’s the first time for me to play in the WTA Finals. I was so motivated. But let’s see what’s going to happen.

A challenging final against a Grand Slam champion, Zheng relished finally getting over the line, after a handful of painful defeats in the late stages of previous events in Asia.

“I really appreciate that I’m able to fight through and be the champion in Tokyo. This is the one I wanted to get when I was 19 years old. I fight so hard, but I didn’t, I lost in the [2022] final. So this year, I’m just really happy.”

Qinwen Zheng is my pick to win the WTA finals

With the attention mostly on US and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who is expected to walk the finals, many might not have given debutant Zheng a hope.

After all, her record against Sabalenka tells a dismal tale, with the 21-year-old never having beaten her.

However, with Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff fresh off a coaching change, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, and Jasmine Paolini all come in off some iffy form of late, with the Russian having barely played for months.

Zheng however is in a completely different situation, having seriously accelerated in the past few weeks.

If there’s going to be any tike to disrupt the narrative and put Sabalenka’s status as the world number one in peril, I have a funny feeling it might be in Riyadh.

Related Posts