Chinese star player doesn’t want to make friends in tennis

“My answer is very clear, I always prefer to keep my distance from other players,” Zheng said at the press conference of the WTA Finals on Sunday, when asked if she is friends with any of her colleagues.

“There is a lot of competition between us. I am a very sensitive girl. I don’t feel like I can become friends with someone and then have to compete on the court, I wouldn’t focus 100% to fight.”

Zheng’s views are somewhat similar to Novak Djokovic, who is considered the greatest male tennis player of all-time. The 24-time Grand Slam winner has repeatedly said that top players cannot be close friends because no one wants to reveal everything to each other when they are still competing at the top level.

Zheng added: “Deep down, if it’s a friend, I want her to win and succeed in life. It’s the opposite of what I think in a tennis tournament. Once I understood that, I decided not to try to make friends on the tour. There are so many people outside the WTA, why should I make friends here?

“I come here to compete with them, to win the match. That’s my opinion.”

Zheng, 22, is currently China’s number one tennis player and had a breakthrough season this year with an Olympic women’s singles gold medal and an Australian Open final.

These achievements put Zheng into her first WTA Finals, a competition for the eight best female players of the year. In the opening match, she lost 0-2 to world number one Aryna Sabalenka. In the following match, Zheng defeated Elena Rybakina and she will face Jasmine Paolini next to compete for a spot in the semifinals.

This year’s WTA Finals is taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from Nov. 2-9. The tournament has a total prize pool of $15.25 million, of which the champion can receive a maximum of $5.15 million and a minimum of $4.45 million.