For those who have been watching the 2026 US Open, you may already be familiar with Qinwen Zheng. The 23-year-old Chinese star has been performing brilliantly in New York, pulling off remarkable comebacks along the way. After fighting back from 0-5 down against Madison Keys, she did it again against Iga Swiatek in the fourth round, overcoming the former world No. 1 to reach the quarterfinals.

But what drives Zheng’s incredible fighting spirit? Where does that iron determination come from? The answer may lie with the two people who have been there since the very beginning: her parents.

Who is Qinwen Zheng’s father, Zheng Jianping?

Jianping Zheng was more than just a father supporting his daughter’s dreams. He became one of the biggest forces behind her tennis journey. A former track and field athlete, Jianping competed in provincial competitions in Hubei and was part of the province’s second-level track team during his high-school years. He later entered business, establishing an auto parts company in Shiyan that dealt in cars, steel, and construction materials.

But his daughter’s sporting potential soon gave him a new purpose. When six-year-old Qinwen once chose to run instead of taking a ride in the family car, her father noticed something special. Her natural love for sport, combined with his own competitive background, convinced him that she had the potential to go far. As reported by Athlon Sports, Jianping then took on a central role in building her tennis career, reportedly investing around 20 million yuan (about $3 million) in her development before she began earning money herself.

Who is Qinwen Zheng’s mother, Deng Fang?

While Jianping was the one pushing Qinwen through her career, Deng Fang was the one who kept things in order. Deng Fang, who is from Zhongjiang, Sichuan, comes from a very different career background: she studied railway transport at the Xiangfan Railway Transport Technical School before becoming a station clerk and ticket seller at the Liuliping and Shiyan railway stations.

Where did Qinwen Zheng grow up?

Qinwen Zheng was born on October 8, 2002, in Shiyan City in Hubei Province in central China, located in the Qinba Mountain Range. However, this is not where her story ends. At age 6, after her father recognized her natural talent for tennis, she began playing locally.

By age eight, her parents had no choice but to move her from Shiyan to Wuhan, which is about 200 kilometers away, for better coaching. She received training from age eight to 13 in Wuhan. After that, she shifted from Wuhan to Beijing for more specialized training and ultimately from Beijing to Barcelona with her mother for specialized training on the European circuit at the age of 17. This journey started from a small city in central China and went all the way up to the international arena.

What are Qinwen Zheng’s parents’ ethnicity and nationality?

Both Zheng Jianping and Deng Fang are Chinese nationals. Jianping hails from Gucheng County in Xiangyang, Hubei province, while Deng Fang is originally from Zhongjiang in Sichuan province. Qinwen herself is of Han Chinese ethnicity.

What’s interesting is how this family’s Chinese identity has become central to Qinwen’s story. Despite spending years training abroad, first in Beijing, then in Barcelona, and building an international team around her, Qinwen has never lost sight of where she comes from. 

How did Qinwen Zheng’s parents influence her tennis career?

To say that Zheng Jianping and Deng Fang influenced Qinwen Zheng’s career would be a massive understatement. Both made significant sacrifices to give their daughter the best possible chance of succeeding in tennis.

Qinwen inherited her competitive edge from her father. A former track and field athlete himself, Jianping understood the physical and mental demands of elite sport. He knew his daughter would face plenty of setbacks on her way to the top, so he took a hands-on approach to her development, overseeing everything from her training and diet to physiotherapy. As he himself said, he wanted his daughter to “become the best at whatever she does” from the very beginning.

One of the biggest sacrifices behind Qinwen’s tennis career was the financial burden it placed on her family. As she began competing internationally, training and coaching reportedly cost around CNY 3 million ($420,000) a year. Jianping eventually invested nearly CNY 20 million ($3 million) in her development before her career became financially sustainable. At one point, the family had depleted much of its savings, leaving him considering selling their home to keep funding her dream.

Her mother, Deng Fang, provided a different kind of support. She gave up her own career to stay by Qinwen’s side, taking care of her meals, travel arrangements and day-to-day needs while also providing the emotional support she needed. Together, her parents created the stability that allowed Qinwen to focus almost entirely on becoming a better player.

Qinwen herself has been open about their impact. After winning Olympic gold in Paris, she said, “My success largely comes from my parents.” She has spoken about how her mother quit her job to support her and how her father’s strict standards pushed her to improve. She has even publicly acknowledged the house-selling story, showing just how far her father was willing to go because he believed in her potential.

The result is a tennis player who simply does not know how to quit. Even after falling 0-5 behind in a Grand Slam match, Qinwen does not immediately think about losing. Instead, she thinks about avoiding a bagel, and then she starts thinking about winning. That mentality was not built by a coach or sports psychologist alone. It was shaped by two parents who taught her that nothing worth having comes easy and that if she was going to dream, she might as well dream big.