Qinwen
Zheng expressed her disappointment after losing the final of the 2024
Australian Open to
Aryna Sabalenka. The 21-year-old Chinese player reached her
first Grand Slam final in just her 9th appearance in a main draw and will enter
the top 10 for the first time in her career.
The young
star didn't play a good match in the final and was outplayed from start to
finish by Sabalenka. Zheng struggled to find consistency throughout the match,
and one of her main issues was her low first serve percentage (53% compared to
Sabalenka's 67%), in addition to winning only 9 of the 24 points played with
her second serve.
'Queen Wen'
acknowledged that she wasn't close to her best level and that against an
opponent of Sabalenka's caliber, there aren't many chances if she's not playing
at 100%: 'I think in this match I started pretty slow. I didn’t play my tennis
there,' Zheng told reporters."
“I think
the difference was the beginning. I couldn’t hold the service game. Then later
on, when I got the chance to break her 40-Love up, I was not able to make it.”
“If I play
against Sabalenka at this level, if you don’t take this chance the match went
away really fast. She’s a really aggressive player. If you let a chance go, it
will happen.”
“Generally,
I improved bit by bit,” Zheng reflected. “I think Sabalenka is one of the most
tough opponents I have faced. But I think I need to improve more myself to be
able to face this kind of situation for the next time,” she added.
At 21 years
old, she is the second Chinese player to reach an Australian Open final after
Li Na, who won the title in 2014. Despite the defeat, Zheng emphasized the
importance of continuing to work with her team to improve in the upcoming
tournaments:
“I have to
work more on my tennis, also work more on my mental side,” she stated. “If you
lose, there must be a reason behind why you lost and we (Zheng and her team)
have to try to figure out why and then come back stronger and better next
time.”
