Shocking Upset: Djokovic Left Heartbroken as Qin Wen Pulls Off Stunning Win

Original title: Paris Olympic tennis gold medalists have different fates (lead)

Qinwen cheats and Xiaode is heartbroken (theme)

Guangzhou Daily Omnimedia reporter Sun Jiahui

Which one carries more weight, the Olympic tennis title or the four Grand Slam titles?

As the most professional and commercial individual ball sport, tennis has a special status in the international sports world. Winning the Olympic Games every four years is more difficult and resources are more scarce, so gold medals are naturally considered more “precious”; and the four Grand Slams are held four times a year, and the champions will receive millions of dollars in high bonuses, so the “gold” content is higher. After trying their best to win the men’s and women’s singles gold medals in the Paris Olympics, Djokovic and Zheng Qinwen appeared in Flushing Meadows, New York, to challenge the Grand Slam championship. The results were different. Zheng Qinwen passed three levels in a row and will compete with Vikic for a place in the top eight tonight Beijing time, while Djokovic unfortunately stopped in the top 32.

Zheng Qinwen “fired at full power” and easily advanced to the top 16

In the early morning of August 31st, Beijing time, the third round of the women’s singles competition of the US Open began. The No. 7 seed Zheng Qinwen swept the German star Niemeyer 6-2, 6-1, successfully “avenging” and entering the top 16 of the US Open women’s singles for two consecutive years. This is also the fourth time in her career that she has entered the second week of a Grand Slam event.

As a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist, Niemeyer has always been Zheng Qinwen’s toughest opponent in the past. She has won their last two matches, including the third round of the 2022 US Open.

In the post-match interview, Zheng Qinwen revealed the impact of the defeat on herself and her determination to “revenge”.

“I remember clearly that I lost that match at midnight,” said the 21-year-old Zheng Qinwen. “It was a tough match and it was really painful. I remember sitting there for an hour, around 3am, crying alone. So today in the match, I was very focused from the beginning because I didn’t want to have that feeling again. I’m glad that I won this time so I don’t have to cry!”

During the match, Zheng Qinwen remained focused throughout the match, hitting 8 aces and 17 winning points, saving the only break point and converting all 4 break points she had on Niemeyer’s serve.

This is the second time that this year’s Australian Open runner-up Zheng Qinwen has entered the second week of a Grand Slam tournament in 2024, and the fourth time he has reached at least the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

Zheng Qinwen talked about her improvement since last year’s US Open: “I think my judgment on the court is better. A year ago, I remember the third round of the US Open against Italian player Bronzetti. I played badly, my serve was not in place, and I made a lot of mistakes. But this time, I am very satisfied with my performance. I feel that I have more power. I know more clearly how to control the power, when to use the power, and when to suppress the opponent, which is very important in the game.”

Regarding crying at the training ground the day before, which even caused rumors that “Zheng Qinwen is going to withdraw from the competition”, Zheng Qinwen explained: “Yesterday it was because I felt that my sparring partner did not play well. He made too many mistakes. I did not control my emotions well and spoke a little loudly. Maybe I was under too much pressure. The slightest thing would make me feel like I had an emotional outburst.”

The women’s singles quarter-finals will start tonight, with Zheng Qinwen and Vekic competing for a place in the quarterfinals. The latter defeated local player Stearns 7-5, 6-4, entering the second week of two consecutive Grand Slam events and entering the top 16 of the US Open again after 5 years. Since 2021, Zheng Qinwen and Vekic have played against each other 3 times, among which Zheng Qinwen has the upper hand with 2 wins and 1 loss, especially in the two recent encounters in Zhuhai and the Paris Olympics, Zheng Qinwen won all of them.

In another women’s singles match yesterday, Wang Yafan successfully “avenged” the three-time runner-up and 20th seed Azarenka with 6-4, 3-6 and 6-1. She has eliminated two TOP20 players so far in this US Open. She entered the second week of the Grand Slam for the first time in her career and made it to the top 16 of the women’s singles. In this way, two Chinese Tennis Association players have entered the top 16 of the US Open women’s singles for two consecutive years. Next, Wang Yafan will compete with the 26th seed Badosa for a place in the top 8.

This is the sixth time that two Chinese Tennis Association players have entered the second week of a Grand Slam tournament at the same time. The other four times occurred at the Australian Open, in 2010-2012 and 2023.

Djokovic’s Olympic performance was too much for him to handle at the US Open

As Zheng Qinwen said, Djokovic came to New York with an Olympic gold medal, and he did show it at Flushing Meadows. However, he spent too much energy on winning the Olympic gold medal, so he was unable to defend his title at the US Open.

Yesterday, Beijing time, a big upset occurred in the men’s singles competition of the US Open. Defending champion and Grand Slam winner Djokovic lost to Montreal Masters champion Poplin 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6 and was eliminated in the third round of the US Open.

Just like playing two “back-to-back” Grand Slam events, it is extremely difficult to win both titles. Although Djokovic has completed the feat of winning three Grand Slam titles in one year in 2023, he is already 37 years old this year. After winning the most important Olympic men’s singles gold medal in his life and becoming a Golden Slam winner on par with Nadal and Agassi, he needs some time to rest and adjust before making a comeback. Playing the US Open at this time is equivalent to playing another “fifth Grand Slam of the year”, which he obviously cannot bear.

After the game, Djokovic congratulated Poplin very gentlemanly: “Congratulations to him and his team, he played better and deserved to win. He just defeated me, the defending champion, and he should be praised and respected.”

After the Paris Olympics, Djokovic accepted a lot of media interviews and participated in celebrations, which squeezed his rest and recovery training time. “I spent a lot of energy to win the Olympic gold medal. I did feel mentally and physically not so good when I arrived in New York, but because it was the US Open, I still wanted to give it a try. I will try to readjust and focus on the next step.” Djokovic said.

Talking about the defeat, Djokovic said bleakly: “This is the worst game I have ever played.” Throughout the game, he made 14 double faults, the most he has ever made in a Grand Slam tournament. “If you don’t have the ability to score, your first serve success rate is very low, and you make a lot of double faults, then you can’t win. Especially against a player like him who is in good shape and has a strong serve. He put a lot of pressure on my serve.” Djokovic said after the game that reaching the third round was already a success.

In other matches, Rublev, Dimitrov and Fritz all advanced in straight sets, Tiafoe won the “local derby” with Shelton in five sets, and Musetti was eliminated by Brandon Nakajima. So far, all the gold, silver and bronze medalists of the men’s singles at the Paris Olympics (Djokovic, Alcaraz, Musetti) have missed the second week of the US Open.