Ten years after watching Li Na win the Australian Open title, Zheng Qinwen has a first grand slam crown in her sights.
The 21-year-old is the first Chinese player since trailblazer Li here in 2014 to make a grand slam final, where she will take on defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.
Zheng vividly remembers cheering on Li during her victory over Dominika Cibulkova as an 11-year-old alongside her tennis team-mates.
Three years earlier, Li had become the first Chinese grand slam singles champion at the French Open, and Zheng said: “She means a lot, I think, for all the Chinese kids the same age like me.
“Because I think she’s the first one who won the slams. That’s unbelievable for Asian woman in that moment. She gives a lot of hope, in that moment, to young kids like me.”
Zheng had the chance to meet Li, who is playing in the legends event, earlier this fortnight, with the 41-year-old telling her young countrywoman not to think too much.
Zheng, who will break into the top 10 on Monday, kept her nerve to come through a chaotic top half of the draw, with Sabalenka the first top-50 opponent she will face, and she said: “My dream is not just the final. I’m almost there but I know this little distance is still far away.”
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Extra motivation for the 21-year-old came last September when coach Wim Fissette ended their brief partnership to return to work with Naomi Osaka.
Zheng made her feelings known but linked back up with Spaniard Pere Riba, who first began coaching her as a 17-year-old.
He cannot speak highly enough of Zheng, saying: “I never see in my life a player with the work ethic that she has.
“The first week that we started to work, a long time ago, I say, ‘OK, 7am, and then we go to practise’. Then we practise a lot of hours. I say, next day the same, next day the same. I was thinking that after four or five days she’s going to say, ‘I’m tired’.
“Sometimes we are getting angry because she wants to do more and I have to stop her. You can imagine the dreams that Qinwen has, that she really wants to be there in the top, and I’m really, really happy for her because she deserves it.
“Still she is so young. She’s improving every single month and still has a lot of margin to improve. She arrived with very good feelings. She arrived really motivated. And, if she plays her game, she will have her chances.
“But, of course, all of us, we know Aryna and we know it’s going to be a really complicated match.”
The run is another feather in the cap of 35-year-old Riba, who during his break from working with Zheng was part of Coco Gauff’s coaching team for her US Open triumph last summer.
“I think that all experiences is helpful to you,” he said. “Me, I’m a humble guy and I’m trying to learn from everyone. The US Open was really an amazing moment. Of course this experience is helping here.”
Sabalenka was the player beaten by Gauff in New York but the Belarusian has put together an impressive sequence of slam results, reaching at least the semi-finals of six straight tournaments and now bidding for a second successive title here.
She turned the tables on Gauff in the last four and is yet to drop a set.
Known as a very emotional player, Sabalenka has maintained an impressively even keel so far, and she said: “I think I’m pretty calm inside like I am outside.
“I’m defending champion but, worst case, I’m going to lose this tournament and it’s less points to defend next year. That’s helping me to just stay focused and just try your best in each match without thinking about defending something.”
One bizarre superstition Sabalenka has maintained through the tournament is drawing her signature and other doodles on fitness coach Jason Stacy’s bald head.
“Our first day here, there was some kid wanted a ball signed,” Stacy said. “She’s, ‘Ah, no problem’. So she signed my head as a joke.
“Then every day it’s like a routine to sign my head. Non-match day, she just draws some random picture. They played tic-tac-toe on my head the other day. She won, by the way, so it’s good.
“Then on match day she just signs it and does random stuff. Just part of the process.”
Top seed Sinner withdraws from Madrid Open ahead of quarter-finals
Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the Madrid Open due to a hip injury ahead of his scheduled quarter-final clash with Felix Auger Aliassime.
The world number two was due to face Auger Aliassime for a place in the semi-finals after fighting back to overcome Karen Khachanov in three sets on Tuesday.
However, the Italian has been advised to withdraw to avoid aggravating an issue with his right hip, which he says has troubled him throughout the tournament.
Sinner, who is 28-2 for the season and won his first grand slam title at the Australian Open earlier this year, wrote on X: "Very sad to have to withdraw from my next match here in Madrid.
"My hip has been bothering me this week and has slowly been getting more painful. Taking the advice from the doctors, we decided it's best to not play further and make it worse."
Sinner's withdrawal means Auger Aliassime will advance to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final since 2022, with Daniil Medvedev or Jiri Lehecka – who eliminated Rafael Nadal on Tuesday – up next for the Canadian.
On the other side of the draw, two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz suffered a surprise exit at the hands of Andrey Rublev on Wednesday, with the Russian set to face either Taylor Fritz or Francisco Cerundolo in the last four.
Alcaraz sees Madrid Open reign ended by Rublev in last eight
Carlos Alcaraz saw his hopes of a third straight Madrid Open crown dashed on Wednesday, as Andrey Rublev fought back to seal a statement quarter-final win over the defending champion.
Alcaraz had been pushed close in the last 16 by Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday, requiring two tie-breaks to see off the German in three sets, and those exertions seemed to take their toll as he produced a below-par display on Wednesday.
Seven unforced errors from Rublev helped the home favourite take the opener, but he appeared to tire from there as his seventh-seeded opponent fired in 27 winners in a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory.
Rublev broke Alcaraz's serve in the first and fifth games of the decider, also serving impressively to deny the Spaniard a single break point after a nervous first hold.
Alcaraz's exit ended home interest in the tournament, just one day after five-time champion Rafael Nadal was dumped out in the last 16 by Jiri Lehecka.
Speaking to Sky Sports Tennis, Rublev said: "I can't believe that I was able to stay calm throughout the match. I didn't say a word and even I'm impressed by that!
"I want to believe that I have been working on this because if not, then I'm stupid. I just thought to myself to keep trying, keep fighting, keep believing in yourself."
Data Debrief: Major scalp for Rublev
To say Rublev entered Wednesday's match as the underdog would be an understatement. Alcaraz was looking to become the first player to win three straight Madrid Open singles titles, and was 24-0 in Spanish clay-court events since the start of 2022.
Rublev, though, was not overawed by the occasion and punished a sluggish performance from the world number three. Wednesday's win was his first over a top-three opponent since 2022, and he will now face either Taylor Fritz or Francisco Cerundolo in the last four.
Rybakina saves two match points to beat Putintseva in Madrid Open quarter-finals
Elena Rybakina saved two match points as she outlasted Yulia Putintseva to win a dramatic encounter 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 in the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.
The world number four was on the brink of defeat at 5-2 down in the third set, with her fellow Kazakhstani Putintseva eyeing a third win in as many head-to-head meetings between the pair.
However, Rybakina came up with one of the shots of the tournament on Putintseva's first match point, capitalising on a drop shot clipping the net cord to produce a nonchalant winner.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion didn't look back from that moment on, producing back-to-back breaks before holding her nerve through a tense final service game, converting her fourth match point to wrap up a gruelling two-hour, 48-minute contest.
Rybakina has now won 16 successive matches on clay, and she will face either Aryna Sabalenka or Mirra Andreeva in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Data Debrief: Rybakina rampant
Rybakina is the form player on the WTA circuit, with Wednesday's win her 30th of 2024, more than any other player.
She is just the second player to win 30 or more matches in tournaments starting within the first four months of a calendar year, after Iga Swiatek managed 32 victories during the same span in 2022. Swiatek, of course, went on to win the French Open and US Open titles that season.
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