Qinwen Zheng was born on October 8, 2002, in Shiyan, Hubei, China. Little is known about her parents, although Zheng has said publicly that they made big sacrifices to help her tennis career, such as finding her a better tennis coach when she moved to Wuhan at the age of seven.
Three years after this, she moved to Beijing to train with Carlos Rodriguez, who used to coach her idol Li Na. In 2019, Zheng moved to Barcelona with her mother, and she then started working with the coach Pere Riba in 2021.
Zheng rose up the rankings by having huge success on the ITF Circuit in 2020 and 2021. In those two years, she won 7 ITF titles. This allowed her to go from a ranking of No. 649 at the end of 2019 to No. 143 by the end of 2021.
The Chinese player then quickly established herself on the WTA Tour in 2022. She got past the first round at all four Grand Slams, including a run to the fourth round at the French Open, which was ended in three sets by the eventual champion Iga Swiatek.
In addition, Zheng reached a maiden WTA final in Tokyo. Despite a thrilling semifinal triumph in a final-set tiebreak against Veronika Kudermetova, she lost the final to Liudmila Samsonova. Nevertheless, her efforts in 2022 earned her the award of WTA Newcomer of the Year.
Things got even better for Zheng in 2023. She won her first WTA titles on the clay courts of Palermo in July and then on home soil at the Zhengzhou Open in October. Both finals were won in three sets against Jasmine Paolini and Barbora Krejcikova.
Zheng qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy, which was being held in Zhuhai, China. Backed by her home fans, she almost claimed the title. But Beatriz Haddad Maia won two very tight sets on tie-breaks to deny her that glory.
Zheng was named the WTA’s most-improved player in 2023 for her excellent results. Further and immediate success came in 2024, with Zheng having an incredible run at the Australian Open. She defeated Ashlyn Krueger and Katie Boulter in the first two rounds before winning a thrilling contest in a final-set tiebreak against compatriot Wang Yafan.
A more straightforward triumph against Oceane Dodin took her into the quarterfinal. Zheng reached her first Grand Slam final by taking out Anna Kalinskaya and Dayana Yastremska in the quarterfinal and semifinal.
However, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was too strong in the final, and the Chinese player lost 3-6 2-6. Nonetheless, Zheng will take huge encouragement from reaching a Grand Slam final at the age of just 21. Big things are possible in her career.
