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Mike Chan

Chinese tennis fans have wondered whether it was time for Zheng Qinwen to retire and called on the Olympic champion to seek psychological help after she lost in the opening round of a tournament again on Monday.
Two weeks after crashing out of the first round of the French Open on the clay of Roland Garros, Zheng was bounced out on the grass of Andy Murray Arena at The Queen’s Club in London.
A semi-finalist at the same HSBC Championships a year ago, the former Chinese No 1 lost 6-4, 7-6 to world No 38 Jaqueline Cristian of Romania.
It was the third time in seven tournaments this year that Zheng has not made it past her opening match.
The loss also saw Zheng’s live rankings on the WTA tour plunge to No 159, after being ranked as high as No 4 in the world just a year ago.

Starting her season at No 24, Zheng saw her ranking drop just outside the top 50 after a round-of-32 exit in Rome in May. A damaging blow followed when Zheng lost to qualifier Maja Chwalinska, who went on to reach the final, in the first round of the French Open, sending the Hubei native outside the top 100.
With Zheng having a first-serve success ratio of just over 48 per cent, and sending the ball out and wide on almost every return, fans were quick to point out that her mindset, returns and confidence were all gone, and social media users suggested that she might be dealing with psychological issues.
“She turned around when someone coughed in the stands. She’s so easily affected. I haven’t seen any players reacting this strongly,” said one Weibo commentator.
“Seek help from a psychologist to release stress,” read another comment. “If playing tennis is only causing you stress, perhaps you should stop.”
Another social media user also linked Zheng’s performance to having “serious psychological issues”, and said, “She has lost her confidence in playing; her footwork is heavy, her returns were unwatchable … she lacked patience compared to before.”
Another said: “She just lacks the skill level; it’s only because our expectations were too high. She’ll likely continue in this state for quite some time.”
One Weibo user blamed Zheng’s free-fall on insufficient knowledge and lack of education.
“No matter how good your physical condition is, if one lacks intelligence and just blindly charges forward, they can’t reflect on their mistakes after failure, and won’t be able to overcome psychological barriers,” read the comment.
Zheng has secured safe passage to the main draw of Wimbledon, and with the third grand slam this year not starting until the end of this month, there are still a couple of WTA 250 events, in Nottingham and Eastbourne, available for Zheng to hone her form and conditioning.
On the bright side, coupled with an injury-plagued second-half season last year, in which Zheng played only in the China Open last September, the 23-year-old right-hander does not have many points to defend for the remainder of the season.
Zheng had only 10 points from Wimbledon after losing in the first round last year, and 65 more from the China Open after losing in the third round in Beijing. Any points earned from the other tournaments for the next six months would be added to her ranking points with no further deduction, leaving some hope for Zheng’s supporters.


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Sport

Tennis

Ex-world No 4 suffers third opening-round exit in seven tournaments, and some fans suggest she may be having ‘psychological issues’


Ex-world No 4 suffers third opening-round exit in seven tournaments, and some fans suggest she may be having ‘psychological issues’.


Wimbledon

French Open

WTA (Women's Tennis Association)

China fans ask if it’s time for Zheng Qinwen to retire after first-round defeat at Queen’s

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ex-world No 4 suffers third opening-round exit in seven tournaments, and some fans suggest she may be having ‘psychological issues’

Ex-world No 4 suffers third opening-round exit in seven tournaments, and some fans suggest she may be having ‘psychological issues’