Qinwen Zheng plays with a lot of power and it's not by chance but rather a dedicated effort as she tries to emulate her idol, Serena Williams.
Thanks to her aggressive style of play, which is typical of WTA tennis, Zheng had a fantastic season this year and established herself as a top 100 regular. Zheng learned how to attack and win points on her own terms from her idol, Williams, who embodied a similar style.
"When I was little I looked up to Serena Williams. I loved her style of play, her aggressive strokes, her charisma, her tremendous forehand," said Zheng in a recent interview.
"When a girl has that kind of power in the game, everything is so much easier. It doesn't hurt if you also have fast feet, and besides her, I also looked up to Kim Clijsters," added Zheng.
Besides Williams and Clijsters, Zheng also looked up to Li Na who was the first player from China to win a grand slam event: "Of course, she [Li Na] took care of writing the history of Asian tennis, as she was the first to win the Big Four tournaments."