She is joined at the WTA Finals in Riyadh by Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Jasmine Paolini, Jessica Pegula and Barbora Krejcikova.

In a tricky challenge, the world number seven has been drawn in Purple Group alongside Sabalenka, Paolini and Rybakina.

But unlike many of her fellow professionals, both across the WTA and ATP tours, Zheng has decided to keep her distance from her competitors.

Qinwen Zheng says if she has any friends on the WTA Tour

Sabalenka and Swiatek have been very friendly with one another so far in Riyadh, while their fellow top two players Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have a good relationship.

But when asked in her WTA Finals press conference if she has friends on tour, Zheng said: “My answer is very clear: I prefer always to keep the distance with the player. Has a lot of competition with me.

“I am, like, the sensitive type with my heart. I don’t feel if I become friends with someone and I have to compete with them on court, I feel I’m not able to 100% focus and fight. When I have to scream, ‘C’mon,’ I’m not able to do that because I will feel a bit weird.

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“In my heart, I feel if it’s a friend, I really want her to win or she feels good in her life. This is the opposite side of a tennis tournament. Once I figure out that, I decided don’t try to make a friend on tour because there’s so many people outside of the tennis world.

“Why I have to just make friends here? I come here to compete with them, to win the match. Yeah, that’s my opinion.”

What Qinwen Zheng has been saying to her WTA rivals in Riyadh

Zheng looks set to be fully focused on success at the WTA Finals, with her group stage journey beginning against Rybakina.

The former certainly hasn’t pleased everyone this season, with Zheng and Emma Navarro’s relationship frosty after their Olympics clash earlier this summer.

Chinese ace Zheng won that meeting before going on to win the gold medal, and she has now once again triumphed over the American by beating her to the final year-end event spot.

READ MORE: Andy Roddick makes confident statement about Qinwen Zheng’s ranking ahead of the WTA Finals

It remains to be seen what will happen on the court, but Zheng may have just put a target on her back with her latest comments.

Asked how she has been with the other players since arriving in Riyadh, Zheng replied: “We are just saying hello.

“Sometimes say congrats to your great season. No more talk with no more people. I never go for more. I don’t try to go for more, as well, yeah.”

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