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Zheng Qinwen lies on the red clay after winning the gold medal

Overnight, Zheng Qinwen's name dominated the headlines of major Chinese media, not just the sports section.

People are discussing her strong performance in the women's singles tennis tournament at the Olympics, her ups and downs in her tennis life, her future commercial value, and even whether she has a chance to surpass Li Na's historical status in the future.

But for this 21-year-old girl, the biggest help to her after winning the Olympic gold medal is that she can stand on the court with a relaxed attitude.

"I finally brought honor to my family this time, and I can finally show off." One day after the game, Zheng Qinwen accepted a group interview with several media outlets, including The Paper (www.thepaper.cn). In the interview, she put away her "queen's dominance" on the court and showed the affinity of a girl next door. She even shouted to her father through the media camera, "Don't put pressure on me if you don't play well in the future, because this gold medal represents everything!"

"Dad's eyes are swollen from crying"

At the post-match press conference just one day ago, when a foreign reporter asked Zheng Qinwen, "Does your victory come from an international team?" Zheng Qinwen did not deny it, but she also emphasized, "My success is inseparable from the support and encouragement of my family."

Zheng Qinwen herself said that she was able to stick to the path of tennis thanks to her mother who quit her job to take care of her when she was 12 years old, and her father's strict requirements, which continuously pushed her to improve. "I have an international team because I always hope to become stronger, but no matter where I go, I will never forget that I am a Chinese athlete."

In the past few days, when accepting interviews with the media, Zheng Qinwen mentioned his parents more than once. In his opinion, the power of family affection is also a spiritual driving force for her success on the field.

A day after the game, Zheng Qinwen, a Nike-contracted athlete, appeared at the Nike Athlete House next to the Stade de France and mentioned her parents again, "I rarely saw my dad cry, his eyes were swollen."

Zheng Qinwen revealed that her father had instilled in her the importance of the Olympics since she was a child. When she won the WTA250 championship before the Olympics, her father did not praise her much, but only told her to prepare well for the upcoming Olympics. "In my father's eyes, the Olympics are more important than the Grand Slam."

In addition, Zheng Qinwen also revealed that when she was 14 or 15 years old, her father even wanted to sell his house to support her playing tennis, "because he could see that I had great potential, so he wanted to do everything he could to help her realize her tennis dream."

After thanking her parents' colleagues, Zheng Qinwen also said jokingly that this Olympic gold medal can help her avoid her father's nagging and scolding. "I think winning the Olympic championship this time has also relieved some of my pressure, because I think my parents will definitely enjoy my performance on the tennis court more in the future, and they may not just focus on the results."

Zheng Qinwen shows off his Olympic gold medal

Calloused hands and blistered feet

In two years, Zheng Qinwen is rapidly climbing to the top of the world women's tennis world, but this uphill road has taken a lot of effort. In addition to her parents selling their house to support her playing, she also pushes herself every day.

During the interview, Zheng Qinwen showed the reporters her calloused hands. "This part is not bad. In fact, it will produce blisters in winter, but it is fine in summer."

Zheng Qinwen admitted that the part of the body that tennis players are most stressed out about is not their hands, but their feet. "You can see that our soles often get blisters or blood blisters. It's hard to show, but I think it's part of what athletes should endure, because sports are a process of constantly breaking through their own limits."

Zheng Qingwen broke through her limits at this year's Paris Olympics, not only making history for Chinese tennis, but also defeating current world No. 1 Kerber on a personal level.

So, will this Olympic experience be a turning point for Zheng Qinwen?

Zheng Qinwen himself said that every game could potentially become a turning point in his life, because a tennis match is not just about winning; it takes six or even seven wins to win a championship.

"The thrilling final gave me, and the life experience it brought me is definitely unparalleled. I will always remember that moment, including any difficult and low periods in the future, because no matter what, I know that a career will have ups and downs, and this is normal." Zheng Qinwen said that she is now very grateful to herself for never giving up. "It's strange that even if I have had difficult moments along the way, even if I cried a lot because of losing a game, I never thought about giving up."

Victory is the best reward for this persistence. "I think it's all worth it."

Zheng Qinwen kisses the Olympic gold medal

“I hope the tennis atmosphere in China can be better”

After winning the first Olympic women's singles tennis gold medal for Chinese sports, Zheng Qinwen also hopes that this breakthrough can bring the sport of tennis into the public eye and even encourage more young people to consider taking up tennis as their professional sport.

"Tennis is indeed a very international sport and a cost-effective sport." Zheng Qinwen is a straightforward girl. Facing the media's cameras and cannons, she is not likely to deliberately embellish her true thoughts. "Compared to other women's ball sports, tennis is a sport with high prize money. I think it is also a rare sport where the effort is proportional to the reward."

In Zheng Qinwen's opinion, "What attracts me more to tennis than other sports is that although the initial efforts are really huge, so much that I no longer want to recall them, when the harvest comes, you will find that the efforts can be rewarded."

She described tennis as "a sport under the sun". "It can produce more vitamins and more dopamine secretion. Tennis is also a very comprehensive sport that can exercise almost everything. I think it is very healthy for the body."

Today, Zheng Qinwen has become a ray of sunshine, and she hopes to shine on more young people who are willing to play tennis.

Zheng Qinwen does not completely agree with the outside world's view that "it costs a lot of money to become a professional tennis player". "It is difficult to determine how much it costs, because each player chooses a different path. Some players may be sponsored and trained by their country's own tennis association. For example, players in the French system have the French Open, and the tennis association can make a lot of money, so they will pay a lot for the players. But in China, for example, it may be my family who supports me step by step and trains me."

During the time he was training in Spain, Zheng Qinwen felt the very attractive tennis atmosphere there. More importantly, the cost of learning tennis in Spain is even lower. "Spanish players may not have such great pressure in terms of cost, but because we are Chinese, going abroad to train in a hometown that is not our own, the cost will be a little higher."

"I really hope that tennis culture can become popular in China." After experiencing the tennis atmosphere around the world, Zheng Qinwen hopes that one day China will become like that. "I hope that one day in the future, we in China can also achieve this in tennis."