Serving up a 'perfect' performance

Not after making her first major final, not after winning the coveted Olympic gold, not until this week in Riyadh had Zheng Qinwen ever described a match she played as "flawless".

She did so on Wednesday, giving herself a perfect 10 for the first time in public, as far as anyone could tell, and she was not exaggerating.

By smashing 12 aces, converting five breaks and hitting 24 winners to go with only 14 unforced errors, the reigning Olympic champion was firing on all cylinders as she delivered a ruthless demolition of Italy's Jasmine Paolini.

She dominated the world No 4 in straight sets in her last round-robin match to secure a career first semifinal berth at the year-end WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia.

The score was 6-1, 6-1, and it took Zheng just 67 minutes to clinch her fourth straight victory over Paolini, one of this year's most consistent competitors, having reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

"I feel like my performance today was simply perfect. I don't have much to say," a confident Zheng said during her post-match TV interview at the King Saud University Indoor Arena.

"My serve was powerful, my groundstroke on the baseline had a good rhythm and I controlled the pace well throughout the match, knowing when to attack and when to defend. I also played a few nice volleys."

The all-around total domination has served up a glimpse of how intimidating "Queen Wen" — as Zheng is known by her legion of fans — can be, as the 22-year-old continues perfecting her craft and mental toughness, following an almost invincible second half of 2024.

Since the end of Wimbledon in July, as of Wednesday, Zheng has racked up 30 wins — four more than the next-closest player Aryna Sabalenka — out of 35 matches she's played.

This surging momentum has seen her win Asia's first singles Olympic gold medal in Paris, defend her WTA250 title in Palermo, Italy, before bagging her fourth WTA title in Tokyo last month. Zheng has also reached the quarterfinals at the US Open for a second time, a semifinal at the top-flight WTA1000 China Open in Beijing and the final at the same level in Wuhan, capital of her home province Hubei, last month.

With a potential semifinal clash against world No 3 Coco Gauff of the United States on Friday, Zheng could become only the second player to win the Olympics and reach the WTA Finals championship match in the same season since tennis returned to the Games in 1988, following in the footsteps of Serena Williams in 2012.

After her first full season on the pro circuit, Zheng was named WTA's "Newcomer of the Year" in 2022, had her meteoric rise recognized as the "Most Improved Player of the Year" in 2023 and now, it seems, only the sky is the limit in her exciting future.

She's not so surprised at her sharp ascent.

"Finally, I showed some tennis I really wanted to play, and I'm really happy to be in the semifinal in Riyadh for the first time," said Zheng, who has enjoyed an almost "home court" support thanks to a vocal group of Chinese fans rooting for her in the Saudi capital.

Since making her WTA debut, she's always been confident in her game, but Zheng had struggled to live up to expectations, particularly her own, with nerves and her emotions getting the better of her in key moments. It has resulted in some unexpected early exits at major tournaments and inconsistency in her form.

The Olympic success proved a game-changer for the ambitious power hitter, with her resilience now honed to become a bigger weapon than her kick-serve and forehand hammer.

With an Olympic gold medal around her neck, Zheng has confessed multiple times that she's now able to approach big matches with new levels of composure and focus.

"When you enter the match, you are nervous, but at the same time, you feel confident, because you know your level," Zheng said of her mindset facing Paolini in the high-stakes encounter.

"I know how capable I am. Honestly, I don't think it is a match that my life depends on. I just treated it like any other match."

Another noticeable improvement of Zheng's game this season has been her serve. She now leads the WTA Tour with total 432 aces for the year so far, with Kazakhstan's 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, who lost to Zheng on Monday, trailing her in second place with 352.

"I finally feel that my serve has a bit more consistency. Over the years, my serve performance was good, but then I would struggle," she said. "I know, when the serve was there, I could be really strong, really aggressive in the game."

"In this tournament, and the rest of the second half of this year, I've felt like, 'wow! My serve is back'."

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn