Chinese tennis star Zheng Qinwen to start US Open from qualifiers for first time

Paris Olympic champion likely to sit in middle of 32 qualifying hopefuls; Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong to be among top seeds in men’s qualifiers

Chinese tennis star Zheng Qinwen will start from the US Open qualifying rounds for the first time in her career as qualifiers for the final grand slam of the year begin on Monday, New York time.

Ranked No 127 in the world, Zheng remained some way off the main draw list, which cut off at No 118 Julia Grabher of Austria, per the women’s singles entry list as of last Wednesday.

With an 11-13 record this year including six first-round defeats including at the French Open and Wimbledon, Zheng is expected to sit around the middle pack of the 32 qualifying seeds. The qualifying draw will be announced at noon on Sunday in New York.

A player will need to win three matches in a row to reach the main draw, and only then will they receive the guaranteed prize money of US$140,000 for the first round, and the corresponding WTA ranking points.

“Just finish this season healthily and come back again next year,” said one commentator.