The “touchstone” battle: Zheng Qinwen hits the semi-finals of China Open

On October 9, Zheng Qinwen, the Chinese golden flower who just celebrated her 24th birthday, will face the No. 6 seed and Ukrainian star Svitolina in the women’s singles quarterfinals of this year’s China Tennis Open, striving to return to the China Open semifinals after two years. In the last round, after eliminating the biggest “dark horse” of this tournament, Armenian player Chalayeva, Zheng Qinwen said when talking about his birthday, “I hope that every day in the future can give me a different experience.” So, what kind of experience will Zheng Qinwen have when encountering Svitolina at this time?

In women’s tennis, the 32-year-old Svitolina is regarded as the “touchstone” for top players. Although the best record in the history of a Grand Slam is only the semi-finals, she won the year-end finals championship in 2018 and has won the 1000 events in different venues many times in her career. This season, Svitolina’s ranking is firmly within the top ten. This year in Rome (Clay 1000), she won three consecutive Grand Slam titles: Klebakina, Swiatek and Gauff. So far, the record against the top ten players in the world in 2026 is 8 wins and 5 losses. These fully reflect the “gold content” of the “touchstone”. From the perspective of technical and tactical characteristics, strong defense and unremitting running are Svitolina’s foundation; her tactical ideas are very clear and she is good at seizing the opponent’s weaknesses. Recently, after returning from childbirth, she has increased her offensive initiative. In addition, despite being over 30 years old, Svitolina’s winning rate in three-set matches this season is still quite high. This means that any player who plays against her must be mentally prepared for a “tough game.”

Coincidentally, Zheng Qinwen, who has returned from injury, has also encountered many three-set battles this year. In Beijing alone, she won four consecutive rounds in three sets, with almost every match lasting more than two hours. On the one hand, this brings physical worries, and on the other hand, it once again proves Zheng Qinwen’s ability to get out of trouble. Svitolina is the first top ten player in the world that the “Rocket Girls” have encountered in this tournament, but the two have no record of playing against each other before. Judging from the battles with other top players, Svitolina is at a disadvantage against powerful offensive players like Sabalenka. Swiatek’s multi-shot stability and “big topspin” ball path will also make her uncomfortable. So, for Zheng Qinwen, who “establishes an offensive advantage with strong serves”, the match against Svitolina must obviously focus on improving the stability of the first serve and reducing state fluctuations.

In the past few rounds, Zheng Qinwen’s serving and offensive performance have been continuously improving. But there were fluctuations in the match against Chalayeva – the success rate of the first serve was only 50%, and the number of active errors reached 42. According to Zheng Qinwen’s own post-match analysis, the main reason was “his impatience after failing to maintain his hot state in the first set.” It can be seen that “stable mentality” is also the key to defeating Svitolina. Talking about “mentality”, playing at home is not only a “stress source” but also a “power source” for Zheng Qinwen. She once said that playing at home makes her not want to give up easily in difficult situations. “Even if today is not my best day and I even encounter physical problems, I still have to fight to the end in front of the local audience.” In the “start” at the age of 24, Zheng Qinwen encountered the “touchstone” of top players at home. She once said that she was “not ready for 24 years old” – and in the highly competitive professional tennis arena, “growth” often only takes one game.

(Source | Headquarters Global Information)