Who is Queen Wen? China’s newest tennis star watched Li Na make history and will enter world top 10 after Australian Open heroics
- Zheng Qinwen faces Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska in the semi-finals of the first grand slam of the year
- She will become the second woman from China to enter the top 10 of the rankings when they are updated on Monday
Huddled around a small television in a classroom in China, a group of schoolgirls cheered as Li Na won the 2014 Australian Open, becoming the first Chinese tennis player to win a grand slam title.
Among them was Zheng Qinwen, who, exactly 10 years after Li’s triumph in Melbourne, was set to take on Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska in the Australian Open semi-finals on Thursday.
Regardless of the result, Zheng, one of only four Chinese women to make it to the last four of a grand slam, has already guaranteed herself a place inside the Hologic Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour Top 10 when the rankings are updated on Monday.
“Last year at the Australian Open, I said I wanted to be in the top 10, and one year later I’m here,” Zheng said after her quarter-final victory over Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya.
Known as Queen Wen among her fans, Zheng looked to be heading out early in that match. She lost the first set and was down 3-2 in the second. However, the 21-year-old came back and won 10 of the next 11 games to seal the win.