Qinwen Zheng explained why she is not friends with her WTA rivals

WTA world number seven Qinwen Zheng isn’t worried about making friends on tour. The 22-year-old is enjoying the best year of her career, including a historic gold medal win at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

However, with his new fame, more attention has been focused on him. Zheng came under fire for her icy handshake at the net, chirping at people in the crowd and blistering an innocent linesman during a heated match.

Players like Emma Navarro and Leila Fernandez have drawn the ire of fierce rivals. It’s strange because Zheng is so carefree and cheerful off the court. Now Zheng has finally spoken out about her violent behavior.

Ahead of the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh, Zheng spoke to the press. When asked if she has good friends or if she prefers to keep other players at a distance, Zheng gave a candid answer.

“My answer is very clear: I prefer to always keep my distance from the player. There’s a lot of competition with me. I am a sensitive heart type. I don’t feel like I can make friends with anyone and I have to compete with them on the court, I feel like I can’t focus 100% and fight,” Zheng said.

Zheng continued: “When I have to shout, ‘Come on!’, I can’t do it because I feel a little weird. I feel deep down that if it’s a friend, I really want her to win, or she feels a little weird. good things in her life. This is the other side of a tennis tournament.”

Zheng concluded: “Once I realized this, I decided not to try to make friends on tour because there are so many people outside the tennis world. Why should I just make friends here? I come here to compete with them.” to win the match. Yes, that’s my opinion.”

All players participating in the WTA Finals were forced to spend some time with each other, training and participating in public events.

When asked how she interacted with other players over the past few days, Zheng gave a very on-brand answer. “We just say hello. Sometimes we congratulate you on a great season. No more talking to people. I never strive for more. I’m not trying to do better either, yeah.”

Zheng enters the ATP Finals as world No. 7 with a 41–16 record and two singles titles. Over the past month, she has played some of the best tennis of her career, reaching the final of the Wuhan Open and winning the Pan Pacific Open.

Zheng’s first ATP Finals match will be against Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday, November 1st at 11:00 am EST. Tennis fans can follow Sports Illustrated. Submit to SI all the most important news from sports.