Olympic champion Zheng wants to keep ‘winning, winning, winning’

The 21-year-old from Shiyan defeated Croatia’s Donna Vekic to top the podium at the Paris Games earlier this month on the same Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros where compatriot Li Na became China’s first Grand Slam champion in 2011.

There had been indicators earlier in the season, specifically her run to a first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open in January, where she fell to Aryna Sabalenka in the title match.

“Of course it’s a really good result for me, but I had a lot of ups and downs after Australia, because I lost some motivations, I’m different in the practice,” Zheng told reporters on Friday at Flushing Meadows, as she prepared for the start of the US Open on Monday.

“And after I won Olympic gold medal, the first thing I told to myself is I want to keep the motivation on.

“I don’t want to let myself slip again. I really want to improve one more time in my mental side.

“It’s how to maintain the level when you become a champion and just to keep winning, winning, winning, instead of getting relaxed and let yourself lose easy match.

“If I’m able to do that, I think I will really break through some wall that I have for myself.”

There’s been limited time to prepare for the US Open since her historic Olympic triumph. She was ailing when she arrived for the tournament in Cincinnati, spending four days without practicing.

“So of course if you don’t practice, the performance can’t be well,” she said.

There have also been other, more pleasurable distractions — including a trip home to China to meet the president, a journey that also gave her a chance to see her parents.

Family time

“They are so happy to see me,” said Zheng, who spoke movingly of her parents’ influence in Paris.

“One of the surprises, my father is just standing outside of the airplane. You know, there is a track, so they are able to come there and give me the flowers in that moment.

“It was very short. I think less than 48 hours. But I feel peace when I’m with them, and I feel my father start to put me some new target again, which I have already for myself. It was a warm family time.”

She’s also learning to balance the demands of fame, working with a manager on commercial and sponsorship opportunities.

It’s the kind of thing she’d like a chance to talk about with Liu Xiang, who became a superstar in China as the only man to hold the 110m hurdles world record and win both Olympic and world titles in the event.

Liu was 21 when he won 110m hurdles gold in Athens in 2004 — the first Olympic athletics gold for a Chinese man.

“I think in that moment, I think if he can do it at 21 years old and this year I’m also 21 years old, why not me?” said Zheng, adding that she watched the video multiple times a day as inspiration.

“If one day I have a chance in China, I would like to have some conversation with him, because I think his journey is not easy,” she said.

“I would like to ask him lot of questions to get more experience, and I would like to ask him how you deal with all that pressure in that moment, because everybody knows him in China. Everybody.”