At Australian Open 2024, Zheng Qinwen gave fans an idea of her immense talent by winning through to her first major final.
In the 11 months that followed, she has risen to become one of the sport’s biggest superstars.
Zheng will return to Melbourne Park as an Olympic gold medallist, top-five player and one of the planet’s highest-paid female athletes – one of those rare prospects who can marry on-court highs with phenomenal marketability off it.
This is just one of the reasons she’s a compelling character; below we explore several more as the countdown to her AO return begins.
1. Her huge weapons
Tennis is a game of great nuance and variety, but when you boil it down to a simpler form, you’re going to have a lot of success if you can consistently crank a big serve and forehand.
It’s a 1-2 punch combination that has served so many Grand Slam champions – think Federer, Williams, Sampras, Osaka, Barty, Del Potro, Stosur – so well.
These two shots are also Zheng’s biggest weapons.
The 22-year-old hit by far the most aces on the WTA Tour in 2024, with 445 – almost 100 more than second-placed Elena Rybakina. Compared to 2023, she improved both her first-serve winning percentage and the percentage of her first serves unreturned in 2024.
It’s a fearsome delivery that, if returned, sets up her even-more-fearsome forehand.
At AO 2024 she struck her forehands with a higher spin rate – 2800 revolutions per minute (rpm), almost identical to the men’s tournament average – than any other woman.
And it’s getting bigger – her spin rate was 2677 rpm at Australian Open 2023.
2. Her interview style
Hand Zheng a microphone, and she’ll take her opportunity.
Literally. We mean when someone points a mic in her direction, she actually takes it.
Zheng has the endearing habit of clasping the microphone extended to her by on-court interviewers while they’re also holding it – or sometimes taking it off them altogether.
In 2023, during the trophy presentation after winning the WTA title in Zhengzhou, she took it to a whole new level by performing karaoke.
It became a viral moment and led to this fun exchange with Andrea Petkovic on court at AO 2024.
3. Her connection with Li Na
There was something so symbolic about Zheng’s Australian breakthrough coming exactly 10 years after Li Na hoisted the AO trophy in 2014.
Li is responsible for sparking an extraordinary Chinese tennis boom, and for inspiring Zheng, who was photographed as a child crowding around a TV with friends watching Li’s victory in Melbourne.
"(Li Na) is one of the women who inspired me the most. I always said she put those dream seeds inside me,” Zheng explained.
Zheng met Li in an incredible surprise moment on the Australian Open’s broadcast terrace in 2024, and even celebrated wins like her idol as she progressed through the draw.
4. She has her eye on the prize
Speaking on this week’s episode of The Sit-Down podcast, former world No.1 Martina Hingis lamented one aspect common to many of the game’s current youngsters. "What I sometimes miss about the game today,” Hingis said, “[is] that I think, OK, they're satisfied too quickly with their successes.”
One notable exception is Zheng.
Her face betrayed her disappointment during the AO 2024 women’s final trophy presentation, where she received the runner-up plate after losing to Aryna Sabalenka.
“Today's match, I didn't perform my best,” Zheng assessed. “That's really pity for me, because I really want to show better than that.”
She got her chance just six months later at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and had learned from her AO experience.
“I see (other athletes) winning gold, silver and bronze medals for China. And I want to be one of them,” Zheng said, after claiming a women’s singles gold medal for her country.
5. She’s transcendent
Prior to the Olympics, former Australian pro Nicole Pratt told ausopen.com just how huge it would be for Zheng to win a tennis medal.
"Traditionally, an Olympic medal is probably more (significant) than winning a Grand Slam in China,” Pratt said.
And she was right – Zheng’s profile exploded in her home country from that moment.
She became the first athlete to ever grace the cover of Chinese Vogue, and when she played WTA 1000 events in Beijing and Wuhan, fans packed the stands in scenes not seen since the height of Li Na’s career.
Zheng thrived on this big home stage, reaching the semis in Beijing and final in Wuhan. She then took that form to the WTA Finals, where she finished runner-up to end the season in the top five.
Forbes reported that she is now the world’s fourth highest-earning female athlete, pulling in more than $20 million annually – almost three-quarters of that coming in endorsement deals.