China Hails ‘Queen Wen’, the Tennis Star Who Fulfilled a Dream

China’s Zheng Qinwen speaks to fans after winning against Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova at their women’s singles match during the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on September 28, 2024. (AFP)
China’s Zheng Qinwen speaks to fans after winning against Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova at their women’s singles match during the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on September 28, 2024. (AFP)
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China Hails ‘Queen Wen’, the Tennis Star Who Fulfilled a Dream

China’s Zheng Qinwen speaks to fans after winning against Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova at their women’s singles match during the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on September 28, 2024. (AFP)
China’s Zheng Qinwen speaks to fans after winning against Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova at their women’s singles match during the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on September 28, 2024. (AFP)

Zheng Qinwen's parents sold the family home to fund her tennis dreams and now she is an Olympic champion and China's biggest current sports star.

The 21-year-old is playing at home for the first time since becoming the first Chinese player to win an Olympic singles tennis gold when she triumphed in Paris.

She did not disappoint in her opening match at the China Open, sweeping aside 71st-ranked Russian Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 6-1 in front of an adoring Beijing crowd on Saturday.

Zheng was taken aback by the atmosphere, calling it "insane" and saying she had hardly ever seen a crowd so full.

"I was a little bit shocked," said Zheng, who trains in Barcelona and is at a best-ever ranking of seven in the world, but tipped to go higher.

Zheng has already earned more than $5 million in prize money and also has numerous endorsements from major global brands including Nike and Rolex.

Off court she has also appeared on the front pages of GQ magazine and Harper's Bazaar.

Known as "Queen Wen" in China, Zheng has won three WTA Tour titles and this year reached her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open.

She was comprehensively beaten 6-3, 6-2 by defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, who beat the Chinese again in straight sets at the recent US Open.

The world number two from Belarus, who went on to win the US Open, is the top seed in the Chinese capital this week and the two players are on course to meet in the semi-finals.

Zheng says she is a better player now than she was in Melbourne and with the crowd behind her she could take some stopping.

She faces Nadia Podoroska of Argentina in the third round.

Michelle Zhang, a local fan at the China Open whose two children play tennis, said: "We admire her for doing a lot for the country."

Friend Adele Xue added: "She showed people that Chinese people can play tennis."

- 'Never gives up' -

Zheng grew up idolizing Li Na, the Chinese trailblazer who won two Grand Slam titles. Li's French Open triumph in 2011 made her the first player from Asia to win a major singles crown.

Li is from Wuhan, where Zheng moved as a child to pursue her tennis ambitions.

After the China Open, Wuhan is the next stop on the WTA Tour and Zheng would dearly love to win there.

Known as approachable and friendly off court, Zheng is fiercely determined and competitive on it.

She was talented in multiple sports as a child and her father Zheng Jianping was a track-and-field athlete.

Jianping said Zheng's interest in tennis was sparked by a trip to Beijing to watch the Olympics when she was six years old.

After returning from the capital, Zheng began learning tennis and her ability was soon noticed by local talent scouts.

Two years later her father took her from their home in Shiyan to the provincial capital Wuhan for professional training.

"One of the best things about this child is that she never gives up," her Wuhan coach, Yu Liqiao, told local media.

After winning Olympic gold in Paris, Zheng revealed that her father had sold the family house to fund her budding tennis career when she was in her teens.

Her mother Deng Fang sold train tickets at a railway station but gave up the job to make sure her daughter slept and ate properly to train.

Zheng was among the millions of tennis fans glued to their televisions in China to see Li Na win the Australian Open in 2014.

Zheng, then 11, was interviewed on television and confidently stated that she was aiming for the top.

"I want to play in the Grand Slams and fight for championships," she said.



France will Host Israel in the Nations League 'Under Usual Conditions,' French Authorities Say

Israel’s Mohammad Abu Fani celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Italia and Israel at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine, Italy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Andrea Bressanutti/LaPresse via AP)
Israel’s Mohammad Abu Fani celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Italia and Israel at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine, Italy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Andrea Bressanutti/LaPresse via AP)
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France will Host Israel in the Nations League 'Under Usual Conditions,' French Authorities Say

Israel’s Mohammad Abu Fani celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Italia and Israel at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine, Italy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Andrea Bressanutti/LaPresse via AP)
Israel’s Mohammad Abu Fani celebrates after scoring his side’s first goal during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Italia and Israel at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine, Italy, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (Andrea Bressanutti/LaPresse via AP)

Israel's Nations League soccer match against host France next month will take place in "usual conditions,” French authorities said Tuesday, a day after Italy hosted Israel in the same competition without incident despite security concerns.

Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police prefect, said in a statement that the match at the Stade de France on Nov. 14 will be played “under the usual conditions for a Nations League match and will of course be open to the public,” The AP reported.

Italy beat Israel 4-1 in the Nations League on Monday, with the game being played against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East which has spread to Lebanon after more than a year-long war in Gaza.

It was the first match Israel has played outside neutral Hungary this year. After the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7 last year, the national soccer team played in Kosovo and Andorra last November.

All Israel matches since then have been in Hungary, including last month’s game against Belgium in the Nations League after the Belgian Football Association refused to host the game for security reasons.