Key to Zheng Qinwen beating Coco Gauff in WTA Finals lies in killer serve, cutting out mistakes
Olympic champion can become first player since Serena Williams in 2012 to win gold and season-ending tournament in same year
Zheng Qinwen needs to improve her concentration, cut out inconsistencies in her game and capitalise on her killer serve if she is going to sign off a career-defining season by winning the WTA Finals, a Chinese tennis expert has suggested.
Should Zheng beat American Coco Gauff in Riyadh on Saturday night, she will become the second woman to win an Olympic gold medal and the end-of-season crown, a feat previously only accomplished by Serena Williams in 2012.
Zheng sealed her place in the final against Gauff on Friday night in the King Saud University Indoor Arena with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Czech tennis star Barbora Krejcikova.
“She needs her concentration [if she’s going to beat Gauff]. The other thing is that she relies heavily on her first serve and first points won,” said Chinese tennis expert Wang Dong. “If she can take care of these two, I think she has a shot, a very big shot.”
In Zheng’s semi-final against Krejcikova the Olympic champion went 3-0 up in the first set before winning it with her seventh ace 6-3.
In the second set, Zheng took the first three games and looked to be heading for a dominant win. But Krejcikova won four in a row to put the 22-year-old on the back foot.
