Queen's Club experience boosts Zheng Qinwen's confidence for Wimbledon

Zheng Qinwen of China is the No. 5 seed at Wimbledon, as the third Grand Slam of the season gets underway on Monday. The reigning Olympic gold medalist will face World No. 74 Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the first round.

Although Zheng has failed advance out of the first round at the All England Club since 2022, she reached the semifinals at the Queen's Club Championships earlier this month. That performance helped increase the 22-year-old's confidence on grass.

"For sure, [the] Queen's experience is really good for me, because it was my first semifinal on [a] grass-court tournament," Zheng said at a press conference. "So I think I could learn a lot from last few matches, and obviously to jump to Wimbledon is gonna be a big advantage for me, compare[d] to years before. Right now my body is more healthy, I could have better preparation with my team, so I hope this year everything is gonna be great."

Zheng is now training under Spanish coach Francisco Roig, who previously guided 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal between 2005 and 2023. She believes he can add something different to her game.

Five more players from Chinese mainland will compete in the main draw at Wimbledon, including World No. 33 Wang Xinyu, who is set to meet 15th-seeded Karolina Muchova in the first round. Wang reached the round of 16 last year. She previously faced Muchova once, at the U.S. Open in 2023, with the Czech winning that hard-court showdown 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.

World No. 127 Zhang Shuai will take on Olga Danilovic of Serbia in her first match. The 36-year-old veteran qualifier from China posted her best finish in London in 2019, when she advanced to the quarterfinals.

World No. 61 Yuan Yue is set to go up against Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Germany, as she looks to get out of the opening round at the All England Club for the first time.

World No. 172 Zhu Lin will challenge Veronika Kudermetova of Russia in the first round. Zhu made it into the third round in the UK capital in 2023.

Wimbledon debutant Buyunchaokete is the only player from Chinese mainland in the men's singles bracket. His opponent in the first round will be Brandon Nakashima of the USA.