For Qinwen Zheng, making it to the Australian Open finals is like a dream come true! And why not? It’s her first Grand Slam final she will be playing after turning professional, something that every tennis player has always dreamt of. As she is ready to mark her first Grand Slam final, Lindsay Davenport, a former American tennis player who has seen Grand Slam success and is familiar with the nervousness of finals, talked about Zheng’s feelings at the moment.

The 47-year-old American tennis player dwelled on the Chinese player’s thoughts and explained what she might be feeling at this point, especially as she prepares to face the defending champion, Aryna Sabalenka. Let’s take a look at what Davenport has to say about Zheng reaching the finals.

Lindsay Davenport dwells on Zheng’s thoughts before the Australian Open final 

The Australian Open is ready to have its showdown, with Zheng and Sabalenka ready to go against each other to win the crown. For the 25-year-old, it’s all about defending the title, but for the Chinese player, it might be a dream-come-true moment of gripping her first Grand Slam title.

Recently, in a Tennis Channel interview, the three-time Grand Slam champion opened up about the thoughts that Zheng might be having ahead of the finals. She said, “And for Zheng, I am not sure she quite thought she was ready for this. Ranked outside the top 10, going into this tournament she’d only been to one previous quarterfinal in a major, hasn’t played anyone ranked in the top 50.”

Along with that, she also highlighted how the feeling of reaching the first Grand Slam final, that too, against the defending champion might not be simple. Acknowledging the obvious pressure, she added, “She had a nice draw to get into the final, obviously a lot of pressure on her, now she goes up to one of the best, one of the biggest hitters, and knows she gotta be nervous.” 

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Not only that, it’s not all about the 21-year-old reaching the first Grand Slam title or getting ready to play against the defending champion. This, on the other hand, is also a ray of hope for Chinese tennis, as Zheng’s final participation came at the right time.

Qinwen Zheng brings a ray of hope to Chinese tennis 

Before the 21-year-old tennis player, 10 years down the memory lane, it was Li Na, who won the Australian Open title in 2014. Now on the 10th anniversary of the victory, a Chinese player who has idealized Li Na is ready to achieve a similar feat. In addition, Qinwen Zheng is also the second Chinese player in history to ever reach a major final after idol herself.

Although, on the one hand, she has given hope to keep Chinese tennis alive, on the other hand, there’s also a bit of pressure regarding the same. Interestingly, when Zheng met Li Na, she got a piece of valuable advice from her. Zheng said, “Yeah. She said to me don’t think too much, just keep it simple. I think that’s right now what I need to do as well, yeah.”

Nevertheless, what are your thoughts about the Chinese tennis player reaching her first Grand Slam final? Do let us know in the comment section below.

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