Qinwen Zheng is on a dream run this season! The Chinese sensation has already claimed three titles, including a coveted Olympic gold medal, making waves with her powerful, fearless gameplay. Now, as she battles Coco Gauff in the WTA Finals for the ultimate crown, fans can feel the excitement building. But behind every winning shot and every hard-fought rally, there’s one person who’s been instrumental in her rise: her coach, Pere Riba. But who exactly is Riba and how was he also related to Coco Gauff?

Riba is a former Spanish player who turned pro in 2004 and played some sensational tennis until his retirement in 2020. With a career-high ranking of 65, Riba started to gain more limelight after he hung up his racquets to focus on his coaching career. It was at this time that he partnered with Zheng who turned out to be one of his best mentees. 

For the unversed, Zheng and Riba joined forces in 2021 and the coach played a crucial role in Zheng’s gradual and steady rise. However, they parted ways in 2023 after the French Open. Interestingly, this split marked the beginning of a new chapter with none other than Zheng’s current opponent Coco Gauff. Gauff and Riba engaged in a partnership in 2023, but soon after winning the US Open title, Gauff decided to part ways with Riba, thereby giving an opportunity to Zheng to partner with her former coach yet again ahead of the 2024 season. Both Zheng and Riba have depicted high regard for each other. 

Speaking in an interview, the Chinese star highlighted how her coach motivates her to keep working towards success. “The great passion he feels for tennis is important; he gets very involved, and it’s difficult to find coaches who have so much love for this sport; most see it as just a job,” she said. Riba too, has depicted similar sentiments and revealed that despite not being at her peak, Zheng is a major threat to her opponents. 

During an interaction with The National, Riba said, “I don’t like to talk too much about the other players. But of course, if you analyse, we can see that this year, Aryna and Iga, they are fighting there, it’s like a little bit more up from the other ones.” However, he highlighted that if Zheng continues her sensational gameplay, she will outshine her opponents easily. “I have a lot of confidence in Qinwen, because she has the tools, she has the weapons, every month is better. To be honest, I think she is at 60 percent of what she can be. And this gives me a lot of confidence that she’s going to be one day there, I really believe that,” he added. 

Their partnership has also been lauded over the years by many including the likes of Pam Shriver, who considers Zheng’s decision to reunite with her coach to be one of the best. Interestingly, Zheng and Riba do not just share a professional bond but also exchange cultural ties with each other. 

When Pere Riba revealed how his partnership with Qinwen Zheng is promoting cultural exchange

Partnering with a player from another nationality is not an easy deal. It needs a lot of cultural and behavior shifts and the case with the Spanish coach is no different. But Pere Riba knows how to manage things and despite partnering with a Chinese player, he is managing things quite well and enjoying the cultural exchanges. 

Speaking about the same in an interview earlier this year, Riba said, “Yes, of course. I’m learning every day from Qinwen. Yeah, you learn a lot from the players. I wish that she’s learning something from me also. Every day that passes I’m more involved with the Chinese culture. You know, I’m trying to start to talk a bit. Sometimes Qinwen is teaching me some Chinese. It’s complicated to talk, but I’m trying (smiling).” Continued further, he reiterated his happiness and said, “But yes, I’m feeling really good.” 

For now, it would be interesting to see what more accolades this partnership wins. Will Qinwen Zheng’s partnership with Riba continue to last long? Well, only time will tell.