Zheng Qinwen's extraordinary 2024 season: From WTA Finals to Olympics gold
Zheng Qinwen could have a fairytale ending to her extraordinary 2024 season by winning the WTA Finals title. The Chinese star defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals at the year-end championship on November 8.
Zheng was seeded seventh in her maiden WTA Finals campaign. In the group stage, she defeated Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini to reach the knockout stage. The 22-year-old came up against Krejcikova in the semifinals and knocked out the Czech No. 1 in straight sets to reach the title contest in Riyadh.
Zheng will now face Coco Gauff in the final of the year-end championship and her qualification into the contest is yet another milestone mustered by the vastly talented Chinese player on the 2024 WTA Tour. Zheng was on track for a huge year in 2024 after winning two titles in 2023, including a WTA 500, and rising into the top 15.
Zheng Qinwen is the only player to reach three out of six big finals on WTA Tour 2024
Zheng Qinwen began her season in the most remarkable fashion by reaching her maiden Grand Slam final at the Australian Open. Seeded 12th in Melbourne, Zheng swept aside Ashlyn Krueger, Katie Boulter, Wang Yafan, Oceane Dodin, Anna Kalinskaya, and Dayana Yastremska before losing to defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
Her exploits at the Australian Open saw Zheng rise into the top 10 of the WTA rankings, becoming only the second Chinese player to do so after Li Na. Zheng then picked up her first silverware of the season at the Palermo Ladies Open, where she was the defending champion.
The triumph in Palermo could not have come at a better time for the Chinese player as it set her up for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Zheng was seeded sixth in Paris and 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 to take home the women's singles gold medal.
Consequently, Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese player to win an Olympic gold medal in the tennis singles event. With her semifinal win over Swiatek, Zheng also became the first woman to beat the Pole at Stade Roland Garros in three years.
Zheng built on her success at the Olympics to reach the quarterfinals at the US Open. At the succeeding Asian swing, where she was understandably the center of attention, the Chinese No. 1 delivered on the hype. She reached the semifinals at the China Open in Beijing and was runners-up at the Wuhan Open.
Zheng wrapped up the Asian swing with her second title of the year at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Now, with her qualification into the WTA Finals title contest, Zheng is the only player on the 2024 WTA tour to reach at least three big finals (Australian Open, Paris Olympics, WTA Finals).
Zheng Qinwen is also the only woman to reach finals at every tier of the tour this year. She won titles at WTA 250 (Palermo), WTA 500 (Tokyo), Olympics (Paris), and finished runners-up at WTA 1000 (Wuhan), and Grand Slam (Australian Open).