Qinwen Zheng issues apology after WTA Finals outburst in Rybakina win

Qinwen Zheng WTA Finals

Qinwen Zheng issued a heartfelt apology to spectators at the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia after battling past Elena Rybakina on Monday. The Chinese player secured her first win at the end-of-year tournament in Riyadh with a hard-fought victory over Rybakina in the Purple Group. The 22-year-old is enjoying the best form of her short career so far and the world No 7 produced a fine performance to beat fifth seed Rybakina 7-6, 3-6, 6-1. At one stage during the match, Zheng appeared to lose her cool with fans in the crowd and shouted in their direction as her emotions threatened to boil over. But she regained her composure to breeze past her Kazakh opponent in the third set.

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Zheng, who initially did not realise she had won the match as she prepared to play another point, eventually was able to savour her success. But she started her on-court interview by first saying sorry to the fans. "I say I apologise, in one moment my emotions weren't there because I wasn't totally under control," Zheng said. "I'm so sorry that I shouted. I want to say thank you [to the fans] for continuing to support me." She added: “I’m really happy to win this match. I [have] never beat her [Rybakina] before. She’s one of the greatest players on the tour right now. She has a huge serve and great groundstrokes. I’m just happy today I gave my best.”

Qinwen Zhang secured her first victory at the WTA Finals by beating Elena Rybakina

"Sorry I shouted at you" ??????

Zheng apologises to the crowd for her passionate display against Rybakina, but it seems all is forgivenpic.twitter.com/dxk4yVCyGM — Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) November 4, 2024

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Zheng was then informed that she was 'forgiven' by the fans, who cheered her as she walked off court and she responded by waving in their direction. By winning the match, she became only the second Chinese player after Li Na to win a WTA Finals match since the event began in 1972. Zheng lost her opener to Aryna Sabalenka in a 6-3, 6-4 defeat, but showed her resilience against Rybakina to set up an enticing decider against Jasmine Paolini.

Qinwen Zhang and Jasmine Paolini face each other again at the WTA Finals

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