Zheng Qinwen makes bold prediction for future of tennis in China following big spotlight on the sport after her gold medal exploits at Paris Olympics

Zheng Qinwen recently made a bold prediction for the future of tennis in China. She made her claim in light of the significant attention tennis garnered in her country after she won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Zheng is currently competing at the 2024 China Open. She entered the WTA 1000 hard court tournament in Beijing following a quarterfinal run at the 2024 US Open, where eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka defeated her.

The World No. 7 is seeded fifth in Beijing and kicked off her campaign in the second round, courtesy of a first-round bye. She secured a convincing victory in her opening match, defeating lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 6-1, in front of a crowd of 15,000 at the Diamond Court.

During the post-match press conference, Zheng Qinwen was asked about the growing enthusiasm for tennis in China, particularly following her gold medal win in the singles event at the Paris Olympics, where she defeated Donna Vekic in the final.

In response, the 21-year-old expressed her delight at witnessing the increasing interest in tennis among the Chinese people. She said that she was really happy to see children becoming more engaged with the sport and predicted that more people would eventually become more involved in tennis, which in turn, would lead to a rise in Chinese players breaking into the top 100 rankings.

"To see that more people are interested in tennis, I'm really happy with more children getting interested in tennis, which means more people would have the opportunity to participate in this sport, more people will be playing. You will see more men's, women's players getting into the top 100 with better performances," Zheng said.

Zheng Qinwen also expressed that she is hoping that tennis in China would soon take center stage globally, which would enable Chinese players to compete against top players from other countries.

"This is a good trend. It's a very good beginning . I always believe that tennis in China will eventually be at the center of the global stage. I believe that the Chinese people will be able to compete against other top players of other countries," she said.

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Zheng Qinwen will face Nadia Podoroska in China Open 2024 3R

Zheng Qinwen at the 2024 China Open [Source: Getty]

Zheng Qinwen will take on Argentine Nadia Podoroska in the third round of the 2024 China Open.

Podoroska kicked off her campaign at the WTA 1000 hardcourt tournament in Beijing by defeating wild card Ren Yufei with a score of 6-4, 6-2 in the first round. She then secured a hard-fought victory over 25th seed Dayana Yastremska with a score of 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-2 in the second round to secure her a spot in the third round against Zheng.

Zheng and Podoroska have faced each other only once on the WTA Tour, with their first meeting taking place in the first round of the 2023 US Open, which the Chinese won 6-1, 6-0.

The winner of the match will face either ninth seed Daria Kasatkina or 34th seed Amanda Anisimova in the fourth round.