Changing rackets is never an easy decision in tennis, although in this case we are not talking about the brand or even the model. Qinwen Zheng sought to modify at the beginning of the season some detail in his Wilson Pro Staff to look for some more power, an invention that fit in his head, but on the track it didn’t work. Finally, after three months turning the issue around, the Chinese has preferred to return to her usual weapon, which has helped her reach the round of 16 of the Miami Openfrom where he explained exactly what happened.
“I think I made a wrong decision with my racket, I tried to change some details to gain more power, but in the end I discovered that it wasn’t working for me”, analyzed Shiyan’s in statements collected by the WTA. “I felt it, also, since the Australian Open, throughout the tournament it was very difficult for me to control the ball, I think everyone could see how little ball control I had at that time. I tried it, at first I thought it was my problem, but when I went back to my previous racket I started to feel much better”, says the current world number 23.
After a 2022 of constant growth, where she only needed to finish it off with a title on the starting calendar, the Asian player seeks to take the next step on this calendar: do well in the big tournaments. At the moment she accumulates a couple of round of 16 in Adelaide, second round in Melbourne, semifinals in Abu Dhabi and first round in Doha. An abdominal injury forced him to withdraw in the second round in Dubai and then miss Indian Wells, but the river has returned to its course at the Miami Open, where his comebacks against Irina Camelia Begu and Ludmila Samsonova have pushed him to be among the 16 best of the painting.
“I am very happy with my performance, also with my mentality throughout the match, thanks to this I was able to stay focused on the game. tiebreak and, finally, win it”, he explained at a press conference after coming back from behind the Russian 5-7, 7-6 and 6-3. In the third set she was trailing 0-3 and all of a sudden I won six games in a row, it was all pretty crazy. I honestly don’t know how I did it. I just went thinking point by point, nothing more, I tried to have the mentality of the best players on the circuit, do what they do in these complicated situations ”, she maintains at 20 years of age.
Trained by the Spanish Pere Riba since the summer of 2021, Qinwen is very clear about one of the most important principles to succeed in tennis. “No matter what the situation is, the most important thing is to never give up, to always keep fighting for every point. Even when you are up there you have to always stay focused, in this sport it is forbidden to relax. It doesn’t matter if you lose 0-6 and down 0-5, you have to keep fighting for every point, this is the respect that you have to show for tennis, for professional sport, ”she values with great maturity.
NEXT CHALLENGE: POTAPOVA
Tonight we will see Zheng on the court again, looking for the ticket to the quarterfinals of the Miami Open 2023. It will be the third match against Anastasia Potapova, whom she has beaten in the previous duels: US Open 2022 and Adelaide 2023. “ I’ve played her a couple of times, she’s definitely a great fighter on the court. It will be a difficult fight, as always, it is normal when you reach the fourth round of a tournament of this category. These are matches where you have to focus on all aspects if you want to win the game, so we will try to carry it out to keep moving forward ”, she concludes.
