“Too much confidence is not good,” Zheng Qinwen resets her 2024 focus after an epic run at the Australian Open still trying to sink her feet in clay

Zheng Qinwen will start her clay campaign in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix against Sorana Cirstea.

“Too much confidence is not good,” Zheng Qinwen resets her 2024 focus after an epic run at the Australian Open still trying to sink her feet in clay

Qinwen Zheng (Image via: Imago)

In January this year, Zheng Qinwen became the second Chinese woman to rank in the WTA Top 10 after ambitiously and surprisingly reaching the Australian Open final.

With great expectations since her achievement, the 21-year-old has struggled to live up to the bid, revealing that too much confidence was behind her depleting form.

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For context, Qinwen first entered the WTA Top 100 in 2022 after a year of playing primarily in the ITF and WTA Challenger for three years. 

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Nevertheless, she finished 25th in the WTA rankings and won the WTA Newcomer of the Year Award. Her rise continued last year, as she won the Palermo Ladies Open in July and reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in September.

Despite losing the WTA Elite Trophy in November last year, she made her mark by reaching the Australian Open final before losing to Aryna Sabalenka. She climbed to No. 7, making her China’s No. 1. Speaking to the WTA Insider podcast, the 21-year-old revealed that too much confidence has plunged her into a run of poor results.

I think that confidence is always deep inside me and when the tennis gets better and better, the confidence shows on court. But sometimes, too much confidence is not good because when you arrive high, sometimes you drop harder. I try to keep that sentence in my mind. I need to find the balance with the confidence. Now I'm in the position where confidence is good but at the same time keep my eyes clear.
Zheng Qinwen said

The Chinese have failed to get past the quarterfinals of any tournament since January. She will be hoping to put all that behind her going into the clay season for the best results.

Zheng Qinwen hoping to get her season back on track at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

Zheng Qinwen will compete at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart as she hopes to get her season back on track. She will play Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the second round tomorrow.

Qinwen Zheng
Qinwen Zheng (Credits: India Today)

The Chinese have won only four matches since reaching the Australian Open final and have not gone beyond the quarterfinals of any tournament since then.

In her last match, she lost to Victoria Azarenka 4-6, 5-7 in the Round of 32 of the Miami Open a few weeks after shockingly losing to fellow Chinese Yue Yuan in Indian Wells. However, she remains at No. 7 in the WTA ranking. However, that is seriously under threat by Czech Republic star Markéta Vondroušová.

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