Qinwen: "I don't feel like the reigning champion of the tournament, that's Swiatek"

Perhaps at the beginning of the tournament, not many counted on her, but now that she is in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, the name of Qinwen Zheng is starting to gain weight in the speculations. Yes, I know she is now scheduled to face Aryna Sabalenka, the same opponent she defeated a few weeks ago in the Rome tournament, which makes us anticipate that next match with maximum excitement. Yesterday, the Chinese player had to sweat for three hours against Samsonova, who pushed her to the limit, but she needed a challenge like that to enter the final rounds of the draw with twice the confidence. We talk about the reigning Olympic champion, although Zheng prefers to put that memory aside and focus on her new goals. These were her latest statements after breaking her ceiling in Paris.

Victory over Samsonova

"I'm super happy, honestly. There are not many words to describe how I feel right now. This is something I've been trying every year, but this is the first time I've reached the quarterfinals of Roland Garros. She has an extremely fast playing style, one of the fastest forehands on the circuit; today she demonstrated it. She played very well, hardly missed a serve, her first-serve percentage was really high. I didn’t check the statistics, but she definitely exceeded 70%. Sometimes I win against her and sometimes I lose; today the match was a constant battle. I think I had many opportunities in the second set, but I accept it, it's okay. I'm happy to have won."

Olympic gold on these courts

"It's true that I won the gold medal here last year, but I don't consider myself the reigning Roland Garros champion, as that was Iga Swiatek, who won the tournament. It's different, in a Grand Slam, you play seven matches, and in the Olympics, it's six to get the gold. I know I beat her last time here; I had a lot of confidence on clay, but I don't see myself as the current champion. Right now, I'm in the quarterfinals; I think I'm still far, so I just want to stay calm and fight for every match. I have forgotten about last year; I simply want to fight for every moment of this Roland Garros."

Player development

"Improvement is crucial for a professional tennis player; if you don't improve as a player, you'll eventually be analyzed. If you don't add new things, then you become very predictable to others. I don't use drop shots much today; I don't resort to volleys much because I play very aggressively. When I make my opponent move, they usually make a mistake, or if I don’t give them another chance, but there I give them an opportunity to hit a drop shot. It's true that I would like to play more aggressively, come to the net more, in general, I would like to improve my entire game. I would like to be able to do everything on the court."

Opinion on Swiatek

"She has had a lot of success on clay, especially here at Roland Garros. I remember when I beat her; in fact, before going into that match, I told myself, 'This time I'm going to make it, I have that feeling.' Then, she played incredibly; obviously, I remember how solid she was on the court. The truth is, in that match, I hardly gave anything away, barely an easy mistake. I was always there, my ball was very heavy, playing aggressively and feeling very comfortable with my serve. Anyway, that was a year ago, now we are at Roland Garros. I feel she’s doing amazing, but I also want to move forward. My wish is to stay many more days in this tournament."

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Qinwen: “No me siento la vigente campeona del torneo, esa es Swiatek”