In 2022, China’s Zheng Qinwen made a stunning debut on the Grand Slam stage, winning her first main-draw match at all four majors, and even reaching the second week at Roland Garros, where she pushed eventual champion Iga Swiatek to three sets.
She was just 20, and pundits quickly got behind her, projecting big things.
This season hasn’t produced the same success at the majors, but here in New York, Zheng is hoping to finish the Grand Slam season with a splash. To achieve that end, she’s begun working with a super-coach who is known for helping players do just that.
This summer Zheng parted ways with Pere Riba, the current coach of Coco Gauff, and hired coaching legend Wim Fissette, the man who has guided numerous players to Grand Slam titles, including Kim Clijsters and, most recently, Naomi Osaka.
When a player with the raw talent of Zheng, who is blessed with breathtaking power and athleticism, hires a coach with Fissette’s track record, the tennis world takes notice.
Fans in Flushing Meadows are noticing as well. They are catching a glimpse of what Zheng and Fissette might produce together this week, as the 21-year-old has defeated Nadia Podoroska and Kaia Kanepi to reach the third round at the US Open for the second consecutive year.
She will bid for the second week on Saturday when she takes on Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti in third-round action on Court 5. It’s a great opportunity for the world No. 23, but Fissette says that his charge is focused on long-term development rather than short-term results at the moment.
Fissette, who commenced his work with Zheng right before the grass season commenced in June, spent a one-week training block with her at Rafael Nadal’s Academy after Wimbledon before she traveled to Palermo and claimed her maiden WTA title on the red clay.
That eye-catching success was a great sign, but Fissette warns that similar results might take longer to achieve on the hard courts.
“I think on the clay she has definitely found her game,” he told USOpen.org on Friday. “On hard, she’s still looking to make a few little adjustments. She needs to find that game and what she needs to do to beat the best players in the world. As soon as she finds that, it will make her more calm on the court and everything will be clear.”
Zheng says it has been difficult to make a coaching change mid-season, but believes that she took the right decision.
“It’s tough at the beginning for sure, to get the confidence from each other, because we need to know more about the person, how he’s doing things, the way I am playing and the way I am thinking on court,” she said. “We are still working on it, but so far I am feeling pretty good with him and I think it will be better and better in the future.”
With Zheng’s blistering power, and her capacity for big serving and first-strike tennis, it’s easy to picture the Shiyan, China, native making her way up the rankings and competing for Grand Slam titles.
But she’ll have to continue to evolve first.
“She’s definitely a raw talent for me, and what she has achieved already is very good, but she can do so much better than what she is doing now,” Fissette said. “It will be really interesting to see how much she will develop. It’s easy to project, but it’s up to her to develop.”
The Belgian coach, who has also worked with Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep, is confident that Zheng will make strides, because he has seen the way she works.
What impresses him the most about her?
“First of all her desire to be the best,” he said. “She’s willing to do everything it takes. Athleticism is a very important one. And weapons. She’s a very explosive player with a big serve and a really big forehand. Also the backhand is really strong.
“I think from her strokes and athleticism there’s a lot there, but obviously she needs to grow as a player, make better choices.”
Fissette and Zheng are focused on the present, but both are looking forward to an off-season of hard work and discovery, which could potentially be spent at the Nadal Academy. Wherever they choose to work, the focus will be on getting the rising Chinese star to believe in her game and to impose it on her opponents—no matter the surface.
“Especially on hard courts, he is telling me to believe more in myself,” Zheng said. “I always have to be the one to dominate the game. Of course it’s OK to be defensive sometimes, but in the end if you want to become a champion, the champion will always be the one who is dominating and playing aggressive.”
