China’s Olympic champ Zheng embraces big home expectations

BEIJING: Paris Olympics champion Zheng Qinwen said Tuesday she hopes to use the fervent support of the home crowd to propel her to a first China Open title.

The world number seven is back in Beijing fresh from making history as the first Chinese player to win an Olympic singles tennis gold. The China Open, which begins on Wednesday, is a WTA 1000 event and among the most prestigious in the women´s tennis calendar.

“People start to get tired at the end of the season. For me it´s different,” said the 21-year-old Zheng, finalist at the Australian Open. “I´m really motivated to come and play in China, in front of my people. I know they´re going to support me.”

With that comes pressure, but Zheng says she is physically fresh, has prepared well and has “big expectations” of herself. After Beijing, the player dubbed “Queen Wen” will play the Wuhan Open.

“I think I don´t consider that like big pressure,” she said of the support she will receive in the coming weeks. “I will consider it like big support. Especially when I´m feeling down, I see all the people support me.

She added: “It is quite different to play in China compared to rest of the world. I know basically all of them, going to be 95 percent of the crowd, they are going to support me. “It is a big confidence. Is also a big energy there when I´m playing on court.”

Zheng sees a difference now compared to before she was the Olympic champion. “When I was at the airport, people wouldn´t recognise me if they´re not interested in tennis. My fame was only within the tennis circle,” she told a packed press conference in the Chinese capital.

“But now when I go to a restaurant, people ask me for autographs. “I feel the impact. I feel a sense of responsibility now here in China.” Chief among Zheng´s title rivals at the China Open will be the top seed Aryna Sabalenka, who comfortably beat her in the Australian Open final at the start of the year.