Zheng Qinwen faced sleep deprivation, racist taunts prior to U.S. Open exit
By Ryan General
Chinese Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen’s U.S. Open run ended in the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2 loss to Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka Tuesday evening. Zheng, whose previous match against Croatia’s Donna Vekic lasted until 2:15 a.m. on Monday, attributed her loss to sleep deprivation caused by the demanding schedule.
- Lack of sleep: During the post-match interview, the 21-year-old athlete said her performance was affected after only managing to get a few hours of sleep before her match. “I couldn’t sleep after I finished the match at 2:30 in the morning. I’m not able to practice yesterday because I was feeling terrible. I couldn’t wake up,” said Zheng. “Sometimes the schedule is like this. If I hit some balls yesterday maybe it would help for the match today, but it’s fine.”
- Racist taunts: In China, news of Zheng’s exit was overshadowed by a racist incident during her match against Vekic. Social media users reported that the racist taunt, “yellow banana, yellow,” was first heard when Zheng was leading 30-15 in the third game of the second set. Video footage shows Zheng responding to the taunt with a defiant “I will beat you.” This incident, captured by courtside microphones, ignited outrage on Chinese social media, with many praising Zheng for maintaining her focus despite the abuse. This incident echoes a 2021 event in which another Chinese athlete, Liang Jingkun, faced similar racial abuse during the world championships in Texas.
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