All is not well with Zheng Qinwen, as her coach Wim Fissette has parted ways with her. This comes as a severe blow to the rising star from China, who was expecting great things from the coach. In fact, “he broke the contract”, and if rumors are to be believed, is bound to reunite with his former client, Naomi Osaka.
This was revealed by the Chinese prodigy herself when she took to X(formerly known as Twitter) to express her displeasure. She was deeply hurt and termed Wim’s actions as “immoral”.
Qinwen Zheng says Wim Fissette has ended his partnership with her & will start coaching Naomi Osaka again:
“He broke the contract. This is very immoral. I understand his decision, but my family and I feel hurt. Right now I don’t want to talk about this person.” pic.twitter.com/TlBvMngQPe
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 29, 2023
To begin with, Zheng had quite a successful debut in her Grand Slam career. She won all her first-round matches in each of her first four Grand Slams. In fact, Zheng reached the second week at Roland Garros, losing to the eventual champion, Iga Swiatek, in three sets. This catapulted her to be crowned the WTA Newcomer of the Year for 2022.
She was only 20, and everyone started predicting great things for her. It was just before Wimbledon, this year, that Zheng united with Wim. This was after she split with longtime coach Pere Riba who has become the coach of Coco Gauff.
It was in Zheng’s association with Fissette, that she won her first WTA title on clay in Palermo. The height of success in their association came when she reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final at the U.S. Open. En route, she defeated Ons Jabeur in the fourth round, probably the biggest win of her career.
Zheng Qinwen has a hard pill to swallow
Wim Fissette has been a much-vaunted coach from the very beginning. He was well known for his associations with former world no.1’s like Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep, and Angelique Kerber in the past. But he was mainly recognized for his association with Naomi Osaka‘s ascent to two Grand Slam titles. He split in 2022 with Osaka and chose to move on to newer challenges.
It was then, that he united with Zheng, in what seemed like a multi-year contract. He had been always effusive in his praise for her. “She’s strong and super fast. It’s really impressive how fast she is on the court. Second, her work ethic is unbelievable. It’s really nice: two hours of tennis per day, and also two gym sessions-it’s a normal day for her. It’s really impressive,” were some of his words.
He also had high regard for Zheng Qinwen‘s ambitions and her eagerness to strive for the best. This is evident when Wim was quoted as saying “….she wants to do everything it takes to achieve the best. First of all, she desires to be the best, she’s willing to do everything it takes…..”
{Credits – GSP, South China Morning Post}
It is in the wake of this setting, that his departure comes as a bitter pill to swallow for Zheng. But she mixed magnanimity with her fury by saying “…..This is his choice and I will respect that. Even though this brings some harm to me and my family.” She then thwarted further questions by saying that she didn’t want to talk about him.
As the top-ranked Chinese woman, there are high expectations of Zheng in the Asian swing. She has had a good start to it by winning the Gold for her country in the ongoing Asian Games. This was without Wim’s assistance. Hopefully, it will remain the same for the rest of the season and won’t have too much of a bearing on the results.