Zheng Qinwen goes full Tom Hanks with no crying in tennis comment

In the movie A League of Their Own, Tom Hanks famously says, "There's no crying in baseball" after one of his players begins to break down. The irony is that it is really fine to show emotion while playing a sport. That might prove the player is as bought-in to what they are attempting to do as possible.

At the China Open last week in Zheng Qinwen and Mirra Andreeva's quarterfinal match, Andreeva began to cry at the beginning of the third set after she was bagelled in the second set after winning the first. Zheng would go on to win the match.

Zheng does seem to have somewhat of a reputation for not being overly liked on the WTA tour. During her Olympic run to win a gold medal and after defeating Emma Navarro, the American told Zheng that she did not respect her as a competitor. Donna Vekic, who Zheng beat in the Olympic final, implied Zheng does not get along with others in the locker room.

Zheng Qinwen's comments about Mirra Andreeva crying not as ruthless as they first appear

Still, while the Chinese star did have a critique of Andreeva's beginning to tear up in their China Open match, her words came with a caveat. Zheng said she was not paying much attention to Andreeva's emotions and focusing on her game. She also said that she doesn't normally cry herself during matches, but there was more to her words than that simple phrase.

Zheng told the media after the match, "I don't know. I haven't pay attention to my opponent 'cause I just like mostly focus on myself because I feel today I play so bad tennis...But I think I could see a bit maybe she got some pain in her body. I'm not sure. Or maybe she's just tired...But usually I don't cry during the match, I cry after the match."

Therein lies a wry sense of humor from Zheng. She was not being overly harsh toward Andreeva, and might not have brought up crying had she not been asked, but Zheng also said she was not a robot. She does cry sometimes, but only after a match. There is nothing wrong with that.

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