Zheng Qinwen grew up seeing Eiffel Tower pictures in her school books and the Chinese teenager is carving out a path to success in the city of dreams with her blazing run at the French Open.
Inspired by the success of compatriot Li Na, who became the first Asian player to win a major singles title with her 2011 triumph at Roland Garros, the 19-year-old Zheng has impressed with her aggressive play on her debut at the claycourt Slam.
The 74th-ranked Zheng defeated higher-ranked Belgian Maryna Zanevska in her opening round and then sent out former world No.1 and French Open champion Simona Halep in the second.
On Sunday (NZ time), she ended local hopes in the women's draw by defeating Alize Cornet on Court Philippe Chatrier to book her spot in the fourth round, having only made her Grand Slam debut at the year's opening major at the Australian Open.
Zheng said it was a childhood dream to play in a Grand Slam in front a big showcourt crowd and give her best performance.
"About Paris, when I was young in school, in lot of Chinese books they have Eiffel Tower pictures," she told reporters.
"So when I was young, for me, the Eiffel Tower in Paris was like a dream place. I never thought I could be there. It was really nice to be here in Paris, yes."
Next up for the Chinese will be world No.1 Iga Swiatek, who is on a 31-match winning run.
Zheng is looking forward to the challenge and a chance to test herself against the Pole, who will turn 21 on Wednesday.
"She's a wonderful player. Actually, I have been preparing for this match, because I really want to play against her," Zheng said. "I'm excited for this match.
"I didn't watch a lot how she plays, but I know that she's a great claycourt player. That will be a tough match, for sure. I will give everything I have."
Swiatek ran into a spot of bother as she beat Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-3 7-5 to reach the fourth round.
The Polish player, who is unbeaten since last February, has also won 46 of her last 47 sets after claiming titles on claycourt in Stuttgart and Rome.
The 2020 champion is bidding to become the fourth player since 2000 to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup multiple times after Justine Henin, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova.
The 20-year-old is on the longest unbeaten run in the women's tour since Serena Williams bagged 34 victories in succession in 2013.
"I wanted to play aggressively but maybe putting too much power and her balls were so powerful so it was tough to handle at full speed. I had to take fewer risks but she did a great job defending," said Swiatek.
"She was serving with precision so it was tricky to see where she was going to serve but I have played heavy hitters before, although it was a bit hard to adjust at the beginning."
Swiatek broke for 2-0 on her sixth opportunity but appeared to be struggling to handle her opponent's heavy forehand.
Kovinic, the world No. 95, even managed to break back in the seventh game but immediately dropped serve again with four unforced errors in a row. Swiatek followed up on serve to bag the opening set.
Kovinic's efforts took their toll as she had less stamina and she made more and more unforced errors, losing four consecutive games to allow the world number one to move 4-1 up. But she found some unsuspected resources to break back twice and even go 5-4 up after winning 11 points in a row.
Facing the prospect of dropping her first set in the tournament, Swiatek found better angles to level for 5-5 and break decisively when Kovinic completely misfired a forehand.
Whipping the ball with poise, Swiatek wrapped it up on her second match point with an unreturnable serve.
Reuters.
