"I feel peace when I'm with them"- Zheng Qinwen revisits surprising encounter with parents outside the airplane on return to China after Olympic glory
Zheng Qinwen is set to participate in the 2024 US Open after becoming the first Chinese tennis player to win an Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Summer Games. She recently revisited the special moment when her father surprised her on an airport tarmac when she returned home from Paris.
Zheng was seeded sixth in the women's singles category at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She defeated Italy's Sara Errani, the Netherlands' Arantxa Rus, the USA's Emma Navarro, Germany's Angelique Kerber, Poland's Iga Swiatek, and Croatia's Donna Vekic en route to the ultimate prize.
The 21-year-old recently visited China to attend a meet of all the Chinese medalists from the Paris Olympics held in Beijing by President Xi Jinping. She is now back in New York for the year's last Grand Slam and in a press conference ahead of the main draw action, recalled meeting her parents for the first time after Paris.
Zheng Qinwen headed to Cincinnati for the 2024 Cincinnati Open after the Olympics and could not return home to celebrate her gold medal with her family. When she eventually arrived in China for the medalist's meeting with President Xi, her father, Zheng Jianping, surprised her at the airport tarmac with flowers. Zheng recalled being overwhelmed by the gesture.
"I'm surprised, actually, because after Cincinnati, I have to go back to China for be without the athlete, meet the president, so actually I saw my parents in that moment. They are so happy to see me. One of the surprises, my father is just standing outside of the airplane. You know, there is a track, so they are able to come there and give me the flowers in that moment," Zheng Qinwen said.
The World No. 7 did not spend much with her family before leaving for New York but felt peaceful after meeting her parents, with her father setting a "new target" for her after the Olympics.
"Yeah, is very short. You know, I think less than 48 hours. But I feel peace when I'm with them, and I feel my father start to put me some new target again, which is I have already for myself. It was, yeah, a warm family time."
Zheng is seeded seventh in the women's singles draw at the 2024 US Open and will kick off her campaign against Amanda Anisimova on the first day of the tournament, August 26.
Zheng Qinwen to face Amanda Anisimova in 1R at US Open 2024
Zheng Qinwen will be defending 430 points in New York after reaching the quarterfinal of the Major last year. She will come to the tournament with limited practice on hard courts after the Paris Olympics, which was played on clay. The 2024 Australian Open runners-up only played at the Cincinnati Open after that, defeating Magda Frech in the first round before losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second.
Meanwhile, Amanda Anisimova will be high on confidence for the US Open after an excellent showing on the North American hard court swing. She reached the quarterfinals at the Citi Open as a qualifier and backed it up with a runners-up finish at the Canadian Open. The World No. 50 reached her first WTA Tour final in two years at the WTA 1000 in Toronto after beating Caroline Dolehide, Daria Kasatkina, Anna Kalinskaya, Aryna Sabalenka, and Emma Navarro. Her dream run was ended by Jessica Pegula in the title contest.