Zheng Qinwen celebrates Zhengzhou triumph with impromptu karaoke session

When's the new single drop? After winning the WTA 500 in Zhengzhou, rising star Zheng Qinwen celebrated a big home-soil triumph with an impromptu karaoke session.

The 2022 WTA Newcomer of the Year rallied from a set down to defeat 2021 Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova in Sunday's final 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to win her second career title, adding to the first she won in Palermo on clay in July. And while Zheng hit 10 aces and 30 winners in the three-set triumph, she hit all the right notes in the post-match trophy presentation (as the WTA social media admin so aptly captioned) by singing a Chinese song with the fans.

It was a fitting tribute: Zheng told reporters at the US Open this summer, where she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, that karaoke and rollercoasters are two of her favorite off-court pursuits.

“Mostly I sing Chinese songs, slower songs,” she said. “I also do some Chinese rap. I maybe only sing three or four English songs. For the most part, it’s Chinese.”

Zheng became the third Chinese player to win a title at WTA 500 level or higher, and joined Zhu Lin and Wang Xiyu in making a bit of tour history this year: 2023 marks the first time that three Chinese women have won at least one WTA singles title in the same year.

"When I was on the court finishing the last point, I was feeling super happy," Zheng said after her win, per the WTA website. "All the crowd yelling for me, they supported me in full, in that moment, the feeling was unexplainable.

"It’s a lot of pressure, you could see in the match. In the first set, I was leading 2-0, [then] I lost six games in a row. There were a lot of ups and downs, but in the end, the important [thing] is to win the match, whatever happens. Right now, I’m just feeling super happy and want to enjoy the time with my team.

"At the end, I’m really happy to win this match and to beat such a great opponent in the final."