Zheng Qinwen becoming a tennis villain before our very eyes

Zheng Qinwen has begun to come into her own during 2024. She reached the final of the Australian Open, her first Grand Slam final, and the final of the Wuhan Open, her first Masters 1000 final. She also brought home China the gold in women's singles at the Paris Olympics. She currently holds a career-high rank of No. 7 on the WTA tour.

All of that new success for the 22-year-old has not come without some stress, though. During her run at the Olympics, Emma Navarro told Zheng that she did not respect her as a competitor. Donna Vekic, Zheng's Olympic finalist opponent, implied heavily that Zheng is not well-liked in the locker room among other players.

None of this means, of course, that Vekic and Navarro are correct in their opinion of the Chinese player, but normally where there is smoke then there is the proverbial fire. Maybe Zheng does not care if she is liked by her fellow players. Her intent is to take souls and win tournaments. There is nothing overly wrong with that.

Zheng Qinwen appears to prove her detractors correct in classless move at the Wuhan Open

There was something wrong with how Zheng treated a lines person in the final of the Wuhan Open, though. In the third and final set of the match, with the match even at a set apiece but Zheng trailing 2-4 to Aryna Sabalenka, Sabalenka hit a lob, and Zheng tried to chase down but couldn't. The lines person was nowhere near Zheng when she went for the ball, but that didn't stop trouble from ensuing.

In the Chinese player's frustration, she appeared to blame the lines person - who did not move and stayed in their position, which is exactly what they were supposed to do - because Zheng literally screamed in their face for a few seconds. Zheng basically abused the lines person who was just doing their job.

It was a classless move for a player who has already began to be criticized by her fellow players for being obtuse. To his credit, the lines person did not react to Zheng's screaming. Nor did Sabalenka react to Zheng's frustration as the Belarusian went on to take the match and the tournament by defeating Zheng 6-3 in the third set.

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