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Source: Time Weekly Author: Liang Zhengyu Zhou Jiabao

Zheng Qinwen at the Paris Olympics Source: Visual China

2:0 (6:2, 6:3)! Zheng Qinwen won and won the women's tennis singles championship at the Paris Olympics!

With Zheng Qinwen's forehand winner, she won the gold medal in the women's singles tennis event at the Paris Olympics on August 4. The whole match took 1 hour and 47 minutes. The 21-year-old Hubei girl created a new history. In the past, no Chinese athlete had entered the final of the tennis Olympic singles event.

Roland Garros in Paris has always been a blessed place for the "Chinese Golden Flower". 13 years ago, it was also at the Philippe Chatrier Stadium that Chinese athlete Li Na won the French Open championship. This was her first Grand Slam title and also the first Grand Slam singles championship for Chinese tennis.

Like Li Na back then, Zheng Qinwen lay on the clay court with her fists clenched after her victory. After standing up, she was draped with the national flag and waved to the audience in the stands.

Zheng Qinwen's road to the championship was not easy. In the round of 16, she lost a set to the American player Navarro, but then turned the tables. The whole match took more than three hours. In the quarter-finals, she also staged a comeback. In a three-hour and four-minute battle, she defeated the former world No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion German star Kerber. In the semi-finals, she defeated the current world No. 1, Polish star Swiatek, who had lost six consecutive games before, in two sets.

"Queen of Reversal" is the biggest label Zheng Qinwen won in this Paris Olympics besides "Olympic Champion". Her victory also made more people know this new generation of Chinese tennis who is only 21 years old.

In two years, she won the WTA Best Newcomer Award and the Most Improved Award, and won her first Grand Slam runner-up in this year's Australian Open. Countless tennis fans pinned their hopes on Zheng Qinwen to become the "next Li Na". You know, in Li Na's career, she has won 2 Grand Slam titles, 2 Grand Slam runner-ups, 9 WTA titles, and ranked as high as No. 2 in the world.

The 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen has even surpassed Li Na of the same age in some aspects. She has a powerful serve, has reached the Grand Slam finals, is ranked seventh in the world, and has endorsements from at least eight high-end brands.

The rising star on the court is now a commercial darling. In the list of the highest-paid female athletes in sports in 2023 released by Forbes magazine, Zheng Qinwen ranked 15th with a total income of US$7.2 million (about RMB 51.62 million), making her the first Chinese female tennis player to appear on the Forbes list after Li Na. Among them, the income from competitions was US$1.7 million (about RMB 12.18 million), and the income from off-court endorsements was US$5.5 million (about RMB 39.44 million).

After winning the gold medal and walking off the court, an era belonging to Zheng Qinwen has begun.

Unwilling to be just "the next Li Na"

Zheng Qinwen and Li Na are both from Hubei. They are 20 years apart in age. For a long time, Li Na's breakthroughs inspired Zheng Qinwen.

On January 25, 2014, at Rod Laver Arena in Australia, Li Na defeated Dominika Cibulkova to win the Australian Open women's singles title.

Two time zones away, at the Jianghan Second Bridge Training Base of the Wuhan Sports Bureau, a group of children gathered around the TV to witness Li Na's victory. The camera recorded the tennis dream of an 11-year-old girl - "I also want to stand on the Grand Slam court and compete for the championship in the future."

Ten years later, on January 25, 2024, Rod Laver Arena once again screamed for a Chinese girl, who swept her opponent 2-0 to reach the Grand Slam final, becoming the first Chinese player to enter the Australian Open singles final after Li Na.

This girl is Zheng Qinwen.

At the Australian Open earlier this year, Zheng Qinwen and Li Na hugged each other tightly. Sun Haiguang, a sports commentator for the Beijing News, said that the historic hug between the two was more like a handover that spanned time and space after a lapse of ten years, and the baton of Chinese women's tennis was handed over to Zheng Qinwen's generation.

Zheng Qinwen and Li Na, two generations of "Chinese Golden Flowers", are frequently linked together in various occasions and rankings. Both are straightforward girls from Hubei, have the same enlightenment coach, both like offensive play, and have reached the Australian Open finals alone. "January 25" is even regarded as an auspicious day for tennis by Chinese fans.

The two timelines converge and form an intertextuality.

The road to professionalization of Chinese tennis was pioneered by athletes such as Li Na and Zheng Jie, and a mature training path has been forged over the past 20 years. Following Li Na's path, Zheng Qinwen gradually stood at the position of his former idol.

Zheng Qinwen celebrates while sitting on the ground. Source: Visual China

Unlike Li Na who achieved success late in life, Zheng Qinwen, who was trained in a professional way, showed her potential early on.

In 2013, with the mentality of "seeing what level I am at in the world", Zheng Qinwen flew to the other side of the ocean to participate in an open tournament for young tennis players from all over the world at IMG Academy.

IMG Academy was originally founded by legendary tennis coach Nick Bollettieri as a tennis school. Tennis stars Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Jankovic all trained here. Now, IMG is the world's most famous sports, entertainment agency, brokerage and marketing company. It is also Zheng Qinwen's agency. Gu Ailing and Li Na have signed contracts with IMG.

When 20-year-old Li Na was still struggling in the system, Zheng Qinwen, who was the same age, had already turned to professional competitions and was emerging in the world tennis arena.

On May 26, 2022, in the third round of the French Open, the 19-year-old Zheng Qinwen defeated Romanian star Halep 2-1, eliminated the former world No. 1, and finally entered the top 16 of the French Open women's singles. In January this year, the 2024 Australian Open started, and Zheng Qinwen played as the 12th seed. Ten years later, Zheng Qinwen, who once watched her idol in front of the TV, finally met Li Na.

Li Na sent her blessings to Zheng Qinwen when she appeared at this year's Australian Open Seniors Tournament, "I like the way she hits the ball, clean, neat and powerful. In today's match, she just needs to step onto the court, do her best and fight to the last moment." Zheng Qinwen lived up to expectations, defeating her opponent and advancing to the final, becoming the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam singles final in ten years after Li Na.

In the final two days later, Zheng Qinwen won the first Grand Slam singles runner-up in his career and rose to world No. 7. "No single game is a turning point in my career. I have walked step by step and steadily to where I am today."

After winning the Olympic gold medal and making a splash at the Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen was labeled "the next Li Na" by the outside world. Zheng Qinwen was also deeply inspired by Li Na. "Before Li Na won (the Grand Slam championship), you would feel that the stage was untouchable. After Li Na broke this barrier, we realized that this is also something we can do. She turned the impossible into possible."

But Zheng Qinwen doesn't want to be the second Li Na. "Everyone is different and has a different path to take."

Compared with her predecessors, Zheng Qinwen obviously has a more imaginative future. She has a more complete team, a more international vision, and a more professional plan. She is only 21 years old, and she has plenty of time to turn the idol she once looked up to into a rival she can look up to.

“Hearing the word ‘young man’, I know that the road ahead is bright. No one can predict what will happen in the next moment.” The only thing Zheng Qinwen is sure of is to keep playing and keep his hunger for victory.

Girls on the Forbes list

"The only souvenir I want to take away from Paris is the medal." This is the "examination" poster designed by Nike, an American sportswear giant, for Zheng Qinwen. The important "financial sponsor" who has cooperated with Zheng Qinwen for many years knows his determination and ambition. When he was 9 years old, Zheng Qinwen also saw the Grand Slam poster made by Nike for Li Na, which read "Change everything with sports."

Zheng Qinwen's business path was also changed by the movement.

In the Nike Junior Tennis National Tournament, Zheng Qinwen was selected at the age of 13. Nike also cooperated with tennis king Roger Federer when he was 17 years old, and Li Na when she was 15 years old.

In the nine years of cooperation, Zheng Qinwen has brought strong brand potential to Nike, and Nike has shown its preference for her. At the Australian Open earlier this year, Zheng Qinwen's jersey was printed with the Nike logo and the words "Alipay". It is extremely rare for sponsored jerseys to be allowed to have other brand names printed on them. Only Li Na and Naomi Osaka have enjoyed this "exceptional" treatment before.

Zheng Qinwen's commercial value and his performance on the field have exploded in the past three years. In 2022, Zheng Qinwen made his mark in the Grand Slam tournaments, ranked in the top 30 in the world, and won the WTA Newcomer of the Year Award. According to Sports Business, in the same year, Zheng Qinwen's contract with Yili had reached 10 million yuan. In 2023, Zheng Qinwen reached the top 8 of the Grand Slam, won the Asian Games gold medal, and became the WTA's fastest-improving player of the year.

With the medals, more brands have seen Zheng Qinwen's market value. Currently, Zheng Qinwen holds endorsements from Nike, Ant Group, Gatorade, Yili, Wilson, Swish, Bawang Tea Princess, Lancome and others.

Tennis and the fashion circle are closely connected, and Zheng Qinwen, who has a slender figure and outstanding temperament, has also been blessed by major fashion brands.

On the evening of June 26, Zheng Qinwen posted a photo with Nicole Kidman on social media. On that day, she wore exaggerated earrings, a black silhouette suit and a slim long skirt to appear at the luxury brand Balenciaga show. Zheng Qinwen stood in the center, with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour on the right and French actress Huppert on the left.

This was her first fashion show. Taking this opportunity, Zheng Qinwen was interviewed by two fashion magazines and was called a "fiery talented girl" by Harper's Bazaar.

With the dual blessing of fashion and business resources, Zheng Qinwen's value has soared.

In the 2023 Forbes list of the top 20 highest-paid female athletes in the sports world, Zheng Qinwen's total income reached 7.2 million US dollars (about 51.62 million yuan), ranking 15th on the Forbes list of "the world's highest-paid female athletes". Among them, Zheng Qinwen's prize money accounted for less than 1/4, and the rest came from endorsements, authorizations and other commercial cooperation.

What is certain is that after the Paris Olympics, Zheng Qinwen's financial prospects will be even better.

Chen Chen, a business person from a sports agency, told the Times Weekly reporter that Zheng Qinwen's current commercial value is in the first echelon. The endorsement fees for athletes in the first echelon are basically 2-3 years, with fees of more than 10 million yuan. The endorsement content generally includes filming, offline activities and social media forwarding. According to his understanding, Zheng Qinwen's endorsement fee may have been in the 10 million yuan level before, but after the Paris Olympics, the price will change.

Huang Haiyan, a professor at Beijing Sports University, said in an interview with the Times Weekly that Li Na's "solo" career marked the beginning of the professionalization reform of Chinese tennis. In the sport of tennis, China has also gradually handled the relationship between the system and the market.

Huang Haiyan believes that the commercial value of China's new generation of tennis players will increase as the professionalization model of Chinese tennis matures. However, he also pointed out that the results of the Olympics, Asian Games and other events do not have as much impact on the commercial value of tennis players as expected by the outside world. The more core influencing factor is still the results of more professional competitions, including the four Grand Slam events.

"It's about constantly creating stars," Huang Haiyan said. "Nowadays, the commercial development rights of tennis players belong to individuals. They can join top international agencies, have their own agents, and maximize their personal commercial value. Tennis stars including Li Na and Zheng Qinwen have strict requirements and constraints in dealing with the media, business connections, and image and temperament management."

The "Tea Queens" made the right bet

Winning the runner-up in the Australian Open and making history in Paris, many brands are betting on this rising star. This year, Zheng Qinwen has added several new commercial endorsements and expanded his fashion resources.

On April 16, Lancôme announced that Zheng Qinwen would serve as the pioneer of the Little Black Bottle; 10 days later, Bawang Tea invited Zheng Qinwen to serve as the brand's first "Health Ambassador". In the official poster, Zheng Qinwen holds a racket in one hand and a teacup in the other, with wheat-colored skin and tight muscle lines, which is highly consistent with the identity of "Health Ambassador".

After Paris, it is expected that Zheng Qinwen's influence and commercial value will be further improved, as can be seen from his Weibo data.

As of 11:00 on August 3, Zheng Qinwen had 1.889 million followers on Weibo, with 274,000 new followers on the 7th, ranking first on the list of popular sports bloggers. The number of reposts, comments, and likes on Weibo increased significantly.

On July 27, Zheng Qinwen's microblog post about his departure for the Paris Olympics received between dozens and thousands of reposts, comments, and likes. On August 1, the post "Zheng Qinwen creates China's best singles Olympic result" received 23,000, 23,000, and 243,000 reposts, comments, and likes, respectively.

Yang Xiao, business manager of a small and medium-sized sports agency, told the Times Weekly reporter that due to the high attention paid to Olympic events and their wide audience, Olympic champions have the highest commercial value compared to the World Championships and the World Cup.

Yang Xiao revealed that the commercial categories of Olympic champions include brand blessing videos, product bag-turning videos, signing ceremonies, photos of holding products, etc. The endorsement fees vary greatly, ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of millions of yuan, depending on the athlete's national popularity, endorsement cases and the track he or she is on.

The brand's partnership with sports stars is closely related to the competitive spirit and healthy image displayed by athletes on the field. Zheng Qinwen is one of the best.

On August 3, Zheng Qinwen celebrated his victory

"The positive and healthy image that Zheng Qinwen showed on the field, as well as his outstanding performance and spirit of perseverance and hard work, coincide with the brand attitude of Bawang Tea Princess to pursue excellence and inherit and innovate tea culture." A relevant person in charge of Bawang Tea Princess told the Times Weekly reporter that the choice of Zheng Qinwen as the brand spokesperson was based on the deep recognition of each other's values ​​and concepts.

The relationship between brand and spokesperson is also mutually beneficial.

After Zheng Qinwen advanced to the women's singles finals of tennis at the Paris Olympics, Bawang Tea Lady announced that she would give out 150,000 free coupons to celebrate. In the promotional content of Bawang Tea Lady that Zheng Qinwen posted on Weibo, the front row of the comment section was full of fans posting their purchase orders.

"I believe that with Zheng Qinwen's series of breakthrough results in the competition, consumers will have a deeper and more multi-dimensional understanding of the brand, which will have a positive effect on product sales." said a relevant person in charge of Bawang Cha Ji.

What is the ceiling of Zheng Qinwen's commercial value? It is currently impossible to estimate, but her predecessor Li Na can be used as a reference.

According to 21st Century Business Herald, after Li Na won the French Open in 2011, her advertising and endorsement income increased by about 30 times, and she endorsed 13 brands, including Rolex, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, Taikang Life Insurance, Yili and other first-tier brands. Including competition bonuses, business expenses, etc., Li Na's income that year was as high as 138 million yuan.

The Paris moment is over, and Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen has returned to the tour net to start from the first round. She will play alone with her tennis bag on her back.

(Yang Xiao and Chen Chen are pseudonyms. Reporter Li Xinting also contributed to this article)