Zheng Qinwen blames sleepless night for US Open exit, eyes ‘prime time’ back in China
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China's Zheng Qinwen playing a shot in her US Open quarter-final clash against world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.
PHOTO: AFP
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NEW YORK – Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen said that her tame US Open quarter-final exit was caused by a sleepless night following the record-setting late finish to her previous match, but predicted that she will be “prime time” when she gets back to China.
The 21-year-old was back on court on Sept 3 evening to face world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, having played until 2.15am the day before to complete her last-16 victory over Donna Vekic.
Zheng said she got to bed only at 5am and was unable to practise during the day on Sept 2.
“I couldn’t sleep after I finished the match at 2.30 in the morning. I’m not able to practise yesterday because I was feeling terrible. I couldn’t wake up,” she said after her 6-1, 6-2 loss to Sabalenka.
“Sometimes the schedule is like this. If I hit some balls yesterday, maybe it would help for the match today, but it’s fine.”
Zheng’s win over Vekic saw the latest-ever finish for a women’s match at the US Open.
This edition of the US Open has also seen the last two men’s champions – Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz – exit in the early rounds mainly due to fatigue from late nights, the tournament’s longest-ever match (Daniel Evans and Karen Khachanov clocked in at 5hr 35min) and the latest-ever start time for any match (Sabalenka against Ekaterina Alexandrova began at 12.08am).
The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) has said that the shock exits, long matches and late nights should serve as a warning that the scheduling of events needs a rethink.
“There is no question about how spent mentally and physically players are. The Olympics have added to that,” said Romain Rosenberg, PTPA’s deputy executive director.
“Players have come to us about exhaustion, mentally and physically. It’s just too long of a season.”
Zheng, who was also beaten by Sabalenka in the Australian Open final in January, now heads home for the Asian swing, where she hopes her rising profile will mean more favourable match schedules.
“I’m sure they will put me in prime time all the time. They will not put me late like here, I’m sure, and so I will always get the court when I want, how long I want,” she confidently predicted.
Sabalenka’s win was witnessed by Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer, whose appearance on the TV screens around Arthur Ashe Stadium sparked the loudest cheers.
“I saw him on the big screen. I’m pretty sure he came to watch (Frances) Tiafoe and (Grigor) Dimitrov,” said the Belarusian, in reference to the men’s quarter-final which followed her match.
“But still, I was like, okay, I have to play my best tennis so he enjoys it. I have to show my skills, you know, slice skills, come to the net and all that stuff. It was a nice moment.”
Off the court, Federer said that anti-doping authorities have questions to answer about a perceived double standard applied to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, after the Italian dodged a suspension despite two positive tests in March.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion called the drama surrounding Sinner a “tricky situation”, but also said he trusts that Sinner – who has since been cleared of wrongdoing – did not intentionally use the banned substance clostebol.
AFP, REUTERS
