‘She Gave Me a Little Dream’ – 19-Year-Old Tennis Player Draws Inspiration From Li Na and Explains How She Is Unique From Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu

Zheng Qinwen, the Chinese tennis ace, made her WTA debut in 2021. She played her first match in the 2021 Palermo Open and claimed her first victory as a professional tennis player against the Russian Liudmila Samsonova. Further, the 19-year-old has won 8 ITF titles to date and in January 2022 she entered the top 100 in WTA rankings.

Currently, she is the World No.74 and is participating in the clay-court season. After giving a subpar performance in multiple clay-court tournaments, Qinwen finally seems to have adapted to the surface, as she has made it to the fourth round of the French Open. While speaking to the press after her third round victory, she spoke about the player she admired the most.

Zheng Qinwen about Li Na

Qinwen, when asked about the significance of Li Na in her life, said, “Yeah, she’s the first one in Asia who win French Open, the first Grand Slam. It’s like she gave me a little dream feeling the heart that while the Asia people also can do something really good in tennis.”

“Because the first one is always special. And especially in that moment I was really young. So, yeah, she gave me the dream to put that I can do something big in tennis,” she added. Li Na, the former World No.2, has 9 singles, along with the 2014 Australian Open and the 2011 French Open.

Read more: ‘Really Unfair’ – Alize Cornet Lashes Out at Disrespectful Crowd for Booing Her Amid First Retirement of Her Career at French Open 2022

Following that, the press questioned her if she has similar feelings about the part Asian players such as Naomi Osaka, Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez. As they also have had impressive runs in Grand Slams. To which Qinwen replied, “Well, actually, it’s different. You know, Li Na was like pure Chinese, Chinese. Is different. I don’t really compare to that. Yeah (smiling).”

Who is Qinwen’s next opponent?

Zheng Qinwen is about to face the Polish tennis professional and current World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the fourth round of the French Open. Swiatek is on a monstrous winning streak of 31 matches and will look forward to crushing the Chinese in straight sets like the 48 of her past 49 sets. Further, Qinwen will lock horns with the Pole for the first time in the upcoming match.

Watch this story: Hard to deal with Serena Williams reacts to Texas dreadful incident

Even though the 19-year-old has defeated the two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep in this tournament, the next match is going to be the toughest of her career to date. The match is scheduled for Monday, the 30th of May, at Philippe-Chatrier.