"There was like a slight f**k you": Qinwen Zheng will use Wim Fisette sudden contract breach as fuel to the fire says Andrea Petkovic

Retired German tennis star Andre Petkovic believes Chinese player Zheng Qinwen will be more fired up up for next season, following the supposed breach of contract by her coach, Wim Fisette.

Zheng began working with Fisette after this year's French Open, during which she achieved several milestones, including winning her first WTA Tour singles title in Palermo and reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open. However, the Belgian coach opted to reunite with four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in late September after initially splitting with her in July last year, leading Zheng to claim he had breached their contract.

"He [Wim Fissette] broke the contract, and it is very immoral," said Zheng in September. "This is his choice, and I will respect that. Even though this brings some harm to me and my family, I don’t want to talk about that person right now, don’t want to talk about him."

Speaking on a recent episode of The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Petkovic was pleased with the manner in which Zheng expressed her frustrations, adding the Chinese star would become more resilient due to the experience.

"I do think that she [Zheng] will build ‘cause the way she phrased her complaints about him was in my mind maybe it’s just me projecting but in my mind there was like a slight f**k you in between those lines," said the former World No.9. "Sorry for these words. But I think that will give her a lot of resilience for next year. I think she will find a lot of drive in this."