The Malta Independent on Sunday
Zheng Qinwen wins China's first Olympic tennis singles gold by beating Donna Vekic
Right before Zheng Qinwen de‐ livered the very first serve of a victory that would deliver China's very first Olympic tennis singles gold medal, loud shouts of "Jia You!" in Mandarin rang out from all sections of Philippe Cha‐ trier on Saturday as fans waved red‐and‐yellow flags.
It's a phrase that literally means "Add oil!" — in other words, "Hit the gas!" — and is loosely equiv‐ alent to "Let's go!" Those yells re‐ sumed right after Zheng's opponent in the 2024 Paris Games women's final, Donna Vekic of Croatia, put her return into the net. And they were heard over and over again whenever things went Zheng's way throughout the proceedings on a breezy, cloudy afternoon.
Which was rather often. The 21‐ year‐old Zheng defeated Vekic 6‐ 2, 6‐3 by displaying the same powerful serves and ground‐ strokes she used to eliminate No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals and now has the biggest title of her career.
"It's just unreal," Zheng said after signing several autographs for members of the crowd. "All my country will be proud of me. I will be proud of myself."
Not that she hadn't already shown plenty of promise. Zheng is ranked No. 7, after all, and was the runner‐up to Aryna Sa‐ balenka at the hard‐court Aus‐ tralian Open in January.
This, though, could make her a real star at home. International Tennis Hall of Fame member Li Na is the only Chinese player to win a Grand Slam singles title — at the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open — and served as inspiration for Zheng when she was a kid learning the sport.
Novak Djokovic will play Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday for the men's singles gold.