Zheng Qinwen hits a forehand like she means to end the point with it, power built around a serve that carried her to a Grand Slam final. She grew up in Wuhan idolising Li Na, the 2011 French Open champion who showed Chinese players a major was possible, and by 21 Zheng had followed her into the sport's biggest rooms: the 2024 Australian Open final, then Olympic singles gold in Paris that summer, the first for an Asian player in the event's history. Fans back home call her Queen Wen.
The last year has tested that momentum. Elbow surgery in 2025 wiped out her season and dropped her from a career-high No. 4 outside the top 100, the kind of fall that ends lesser careers. She is rebuilding it through 2026, taking wild cards on grass into Bad Homburg and Wimbledon rather than waiting for the ranking to catch up. The serve and the forehand look the same, and 5 career titles suggest she still knows how to finish a run.
One point. That is how close Maja Chwalinska came to a first-round win at Wimbledon, a month after she reached the Roland Garros final, before her ankle gave way and the match turned. Mananchaya Sawangkaew, the world No. 164 from Thailand, came back to win 2-6 7-5 6-2.
Match tale