By Philip Yeung
From fans to tennis legends, the Comeback Queen is on everyone's lips. Yes, Zheng Qinwen, the qualifier from China, ranked 121, failed to advance to the semi-finals, but her name is eclipsing other star players.
The Comeback Queen has achieved immortality by doing the impossible, battling back from the brink at 0-5 to beat two Grand Slam winners in two days. Twice, she was staring at the bagel and, against all odds, stared down match point to prevail on both occasions.
Up against an insurmountable lead, Zheng patiently, methodically, climbed her way back, point by point, to clinch victories to stun the pundits. No one in tennis history has ever done this to two Grand Slam champions.
In the third and deciding set of her match against Madison Keys, the 22nd seed, she was trailing hopelessly 5-1 and teetering on match point. Yet 28 minutes and 30 seconds later, she stunned and sunk the heavy favorite, sending her opponent into a mental collapse so complete that Keys hit her own head five times with her racquet--once for every game Zheng erased. She recovered her sanity somewhat after learning that Zheng had dished out the same punishment to her next and stronger opponent, Iga Swiatek.
Zheng's history-making feat came against scoreboards so ugly and ego-shattering. Yet, Zheng played composed and profited from her composure.
By doing so, she has carved out her own legend. She will forever be remembered in tennis history by "The Qinwen Syndrome". Henceforth, top players facing her across the court must wrestle with the jittery uncertainty of a 5-0 lead. As one sports commentator says, the most important lesson for this year's US Open is "do not, by any means, lead 5-0 against Zheng Qinwen", for that score is unsafe and may turn into a hazard.
Her double Houdini act in two days has hardened into fear in the heart of her opponents. Tennis is not just a power game, or a game of biomechanics either. It is a mind game, played between the ears. Zheng has a knack for rattling a fearsome opponent without being nasty.
Her historic run ended in her next match against Rybakina, the No. 2 seed who wriggled free of this syndrome. Zheng was not third-time lucky, simply because she was physically drained by having to play three extra qualifying rounds. She is human after all.
Unbothered by her underdog status, she was dragged down by two simple facts: her lingering elbow injury and the three extra rounds to get into the main draw. She missed the semi-final by a single game. But she is sending the tennis world a loud message: I am back.
At the Paris Olympics, Zheng made history by becoming the first woman in China and Asia to win the tennis gold medal. In New York, she made history of another kind--reinventing the psychology of the game.
Zheng, the fierce competitor, has a softer, caring side that sets her apart from cash-chasing sports stars. As she soars to dizzying heights, her eyes never leave people in the lower reaches of society, bailing out victims of natural disasters or giving her native village neighbors a better life with generous donations.
Millions of fans across China admire her nerves of steel; millions more are melted by her heart of gold. Defined by a "never-say-die" spirit, she plays best when her back is against the wall. It is this fight-to-the-finish spirit that is immortalized in tennis history. That is greatness, in sports and in life.
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