Tokyo champion Zheng Qinwen gears up for debut at WTA Finals: "All the players are really tough to beat”

Zheng Qinwen sets sights high for the WTA Finals after Pan Pacific Open title. The 22-year-old seems to be the most in-form player at the end of the season – alongside world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka – and is brimming with confidence after securing her 28th win in her last 32 matches.

Zheng has shown consistent progress since her start on the Tour. In 2022, she entered the top 100 for the first time and finished the year among the top 100 players. The following year, she broke into the top 15, and after a remarkable start to the 2024 season – finishing as runner-up in the Australian Open – she climbed to the top 10, where she's remained all season.

At just 22, she already won an Olympic gold medal and is in the best season of her career. She claimed titles at the Palermo Open and, most recently, at Tokyo, on Sunday, October 27. "I really appreciate that I’m able to fight through and be the champion in Tokyo. This is the one I wanted to get when I was 19 years old. I fought so hard, but I didn’t; I lost in the [2022] final. So this year, I’m just really happy."

Zheng also reached the final in Wuhan, the semifinals in the China Open, and the quarterfinals at the US Open among her notable achievements. Zheng qualified in the seventh position for the WTA Finals, even though until a few weeks ago, it seemed more likely that Emma Navarro would take that spot.

The young star will be one of two debutants in Riyadh, along with Italy's Jasmine Paolini, while the rest of the lineup already has experience in the tournament that gathers the top eight players of the season. 'Queen Wen' previewed her participation in the event.

"All the players [in Riyadh] are really tough to beat. From the first match, [I] need to be focused. It’s the first time for me to play in the WTA Finals. I was so motivated. But let’s see what’s going to happen," she added.