Zheng Qinwen of China competes during the women's singles quarter-final match of tennis between Zheng Qinwen of China and Angelique Kerber of Germany at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, on July 31, 2024. Photo: Xinhua/Gao Jing

In the quarterfinals of the women's singles tennis at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, the 6th seed Zheng Qinwen defeated former world number one and three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber in three sets to advance to the semifinals, beating out the German 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 in a three-hour marathon.

This means Zheng has become the first Chinese player to reach the women's singles tennis semifinals at the Olympics since Li Na in the Beijing 2008 Games. Zheng, who has won three WTA titles and eight ITF Women's Circuits singles titles, has said she has always been inspired by Li.

After Zheng came back to defeat American player Emma Navarro in the third round on Tuesday and advance to the quarterfinals, Navarro revealed in an interview that during their net handshake, she told Zheng that she did not respect her as a competitor, but did not explain why she had such feeling toward Zheng.

"I will not consider it an attack because she lost the match," Zheng told reporters.

This year, the Chinese tennis team made its debut in the United Cup mixed team tennis tournament. Zheng, as the top women's singles player, defeated Grand Slam champion Markéta Vondroušová of the Czech Republic in the first match of the group stage, and in the second match, she overcame Serbia's Olga Danilović.

In the Australian Open this year, Zheng made an impressive run to the women's singles final, marking her first Grand Slam final appearance and rising to world No. 7.

"In every match, even if you're not playing well, you need to find a way to win and advance to the next round. This is one of the most valuable lessons I've learned," Zheng said in a previous interview.

Global Times