“Of course, I know the guy,” Qinwen Zheng’s focus on the ball overshadows ATP legend Rod Laver’s presence in the audience box at the Australian Open

Zheng makes to a career first Grand Slam semi-final as she gears up to face Dayana Yastremska.

“Of course, I know the guy,” Qinwen Zheng’s focus on the ball overshadows ATP legend Rod Laver’s presence in the audience box at the Australian Open

Qinwen Zheng and Rod Laver (Via screengrab/X)

The Australian Open heads on to its last few days as the quarter-finals games come to an end. History was created yet again at the tournament as Qinwen Zheng became the first Chinese woman to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open since 2014. 

Coming back from a set down, the Chinese star won against Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya in great fashion. After a couple of weeks of amazing play, the Chinese star starred in another showdown as she made her way to a career first semi-finals. 

YouTube video

Overjoyed with happiness, the youngster revealed her immense focus on the game at the cost of overshadowing the legend himself, Rod Laver. During the post-match interview, Zheng was informed about Laver’s presence in her match, to which she said that she knew “the guy” but was too focused on the match to notice him. This was the main highlight of the press meeting as Zheng’s English put her on the spot. 

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Of course, I know the guy, but I didn't know he was watching. I focus on the green ball only and on the opponent. 
Qinwen Zheng

This answer got the whole arena laughing as she called one of the most iconic tennis players “ the guy”. Triggering a lot of memes on social media, the young Chinese became a comical character with this statement.

Qinwen Zheng downs Anna Kalinskaya in great style as she makes it to her first-ever Australian Open semifinals

Zheng has been one of the young sensations in tennis. After a dream run at the United Cup, the youngster continued the same at the Australian Open.

Qinwen Zheng
Qinwen Zheng (Via Imago)

Entering her first major quarter-finals, the Chinese pro soon became one of the strong contenders for the title. After a sluggish start against Kalinskaya, the Chinese displayed immense athleticism and skill to make her way into the match by winning the second set. Having won the match 6(4)-7,6-3,6-1, the 21-year-old continues her dream run at Melbourne. 

However, for the netizens, the main highlight remained Zheng’s mention of Rod Laver. Check out few of the reactions on this funny incident:

Featuring in her first semi-final Grand Slam match, Zheng will be up against the qualifier Dayana Yastremska, who has been nothing short of brilliant this whole season. In a battle of firsts, both talented stars will look to aim at the final position and make it to their first-ever Major finals. 

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