Ruthless Zheng reaches first career quarterfinal at Australian Open
2024-01-23
China's Zheng Qinwen celebrates victory against her compatriot Wang Yafan during their women's singles match on day seven of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Jan 20, 2024. [Photo/Agencies]
MELBOURNE, Australia -- China's top-ranked player Zheng Qinwen raced into her first Australian Open quarterfinal after a ruthless straight sets victory over unseeded Oceane Dodin on Monday.
The 12th seed Zheng lit up the night session at Rod Laver Arena with a masterclass 6-0, 6-3 victory in 59 minutes as she showed no nerves in her first fourth round appearance at Melbourne Park.
Zheng stormed out of the blocks in a flawless first set performance where she hit the lines with precision and left Frenchwoman Dodin flustered. Zheng hit 11 winners to claim the first set in just 24 minutes and she kept her foot on the gas in an ominous performance.
The 21-year-old Zheng next plays unseeded Russian Anna Kalinskaya as expectations build for Chinese tennis' biggest star. Zheng is the only seeded player left in her half of the draw after a slew of upsets in what has been an unpredictable tournament.
"If you look my rounds before, I would not consider it an easy match, because I had two three-sets, and the third round tiebreaker was really intense. Of course, I have more experience compared to the first time (into the quarterfinal), but I will never say it comes easier," Zheng said.
"In Grand Slams, I think everybody just raises up their level, trying to give all they can. It's tough always in the slam because you need to manage all those pressures," she added.
Zheng had never made it past the second round in her two previous trips to Melbourne Park, but she arrived with high hopes after a breakout season last year yielded two titles and a spectacular quarterfinal run at the US Open.
Zheng is hoping to emulate her hero Li Na, who memorably won the Australian Open title a decade ago.
Zheng mentioned that a simple piece of advice she got from Li is "don't think too much."
"But sometimes when you enter on court, it's tough to do. I think at the end, the simple things will really help on the tennis court. That's what I'm trying to do. I find out if you really focus on the basic things, you will show good things on the tennis [court]," she noted.
