Qinwen Zheng explains why she will never be friends with her tennis rivals | Tennis | Sport

Qinwen Zheng made a very honest confession, saying that she did not want to be friends with her tennis rivals.

The Olympic champion will make her debut at the WTA Finals this week, where she participated in photo sessions with the other top eight players.

But Zheng is not interested in establishing close relationships with her competitors, admitting that she prefers “distance.”

Zheng had an outstanding season. In January, she reached her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, finishing in the top ten and winning an Olympic gold medal in the summer.

Thanks to his impressive results this year, the Chinese tennis star qualified for the season-ending championship for the first time.

As part of the media day, she had fun with her rivals and took part in a photo shoot, and then took part in a joint video with Arina Sabalenka on TikTok. But the world number seven doesn’t want to get too close to the rest of the WTA Tour.

When asked if she has friends on the track, Zheng replied: “My answer is very clear: I prefer to always keep my distance from the player.

“(They) have a lot of competition with me. I’m kind of very sensitive to my heart. I don’t feel like if I become friends with someone and I have to compete with them on the court, I feel like I can’t be 100 percent focused and fight.”

The 22-year-old admitted she would find it difficult to upset one of her opponents if they were friends, adding: “When I have to shout, ‘Come on, I can’t do this because I’ll feel a bit weird.’ .

“Deep down I feel that if it’s a friend, I really want her to win and have a good time in life. This is the opposite side of a tennis tournament.

“Once I realized that, I decided not to try to make a friend 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.”

Zheng remains polite with her rivals, but does not want to cross the line. “We’re just saying hello,” she continued.

“Sometimes congratulations on a great season. No more talking to people. I never strive for more. I’m not trying to do better either, yeah.”

But the world number seven was also happy to praise her WTA Finals rivals after they dressed up for a pre-tournament photo shoot in Riyadh.

Seeing the shot, Zheng said, “Yes, I can see all the girls. They looked very good. I remember the Chinese fans, we say that Jasmine Paolini also looks very good sitting in this chair, yes.”