An interview with:
ZHENG QINWEN
THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the Media Day press conference for Zheng Qinwen. English questions, please.
Q. How has it been for you since you arrived in Wuhan? What has the reception been like so far?
ZHENG QINWEN: Well, since I arrive, I got lot of attentions. I've been always very busy here in Wuhan. I met lot of different people.
Yes, I love the people here. Of course, there is lot of activity for me, but I enjoy it. Especially I saw there is picture of me everywhere. I mean, yes, that's insane (smiling).
Q. I'm sure you were expecting to receive a strong support coming back to play in China. Has it even exceeded your expectation? Has it been bigger than you were expecting, the way everybody is coming to see you and cheering for you?
ZHENG QINWEN: Yes, of course. People have big expectations on me here. They want I play as much as I can. I hope I could stay here longer. But tennis is always tough to predict.
I know the people in Wuhan, they all wants to come to see me because I can feel the passion already when I'm walking on the street. Once they recognize me, everybody start to came around asking me signature, asking the photos.
Yeah, I mean, I love this atmosphere. In the same time I need to keep more calm outside of the tennis court.
THE MODERATOR: Chinese questions.
Q. Happy birthday. Welcome home. You were injured in the semifinal of the China Open. How are you physically? Will it impact your matches here?
ZHENG QINWEN: When I fell, of course I felt the pain. There were some bruises on my fingers, but I did not sprain my ankle. I do not think there is any impact. I did my training today. I feel good physically. As long as I don't get a cold...
In the first round of the China Open, I had a bit of a fever, a slow recovery. I fell in the semifinal because of a lack of concentration. I look forward to improvement here in Wuhan.
Q. At a very young age of 22, you are the leader of the new generation, winning great support and attention. What is your comment on that? How do you deal with such pressure?
ZHENG QINWEN: Of course, there is pressure. I'm also feeling the responsibility as a leader of the new generation, meaning what you are saying is under public scrutiny. I will pay attention to my performance on court as well as my words off court. I need to be cautious. It's not like I can say whatever I want to say. I will be cautious.
It's a good thing that people are watching me, watching me to improve. Of course, this is pressure. You cannot live under the eyes of other people, so there's a balance you need to strike.
While you are improving, you need to know what you should do, what you should not do.
Q. We know that you grew up in the Hanyang District of Wuhan. You went to elementary school in Wuhan. Would you talk about school experiences that had a great impact on you as well as messages to the teenagers who are practicing tennis?
ZHENG QINWEN: Indeed, these are memories from a long time ago. I really enjoyed my time in Wuhan. I transferred schools every two years. It was a pity I didn't have enough time to have longer bonding with those classmates.
To those children who are practicing tennis, I hope that you can enjoy your time in elementary school because that's a time when winning is not that important, just enjoy tennis.
Q. We know in the season you are working with Pere Riba, your coach. How does it compare with the previous partnership with him? Any changes in this new partnership?
ZHENG QINWEN: Are you talking about the season this year?
Well, I feel like at the very beginning, the Australian Open final and the Olympics, it shows that our partnership is really successful. If I were working with the previous coach, we wouldn't have achieved so much because the five matches in the Olympics, it shows that physicality was very important for me. This could not be done in one day. I had to get better day by day.
I needed new breakthroughs in terms of my performance, in my techniques. I need to have higher challenges.
Q. Any memories you would like to share with us between you and the Wuhan Open?
ZHENG QINWEN: When I was 16, I was in the Wuhan Open. I was receiving a wild card. The first time with professional tennis players. I was very excited. I thought the opponent was as strong as me, but I was too excited, too nervous. There were a lot of errors on my part.
When I was facing professional players, I thought they were playing fast. On court it wasn't as fast as expected. It was five years ago. I am a different player now.
Q. The first match in the Wuhan Open, you're facing an opponent you're familiar with. What will your preparation be?
ZHENG QINWEN: There are many players on the tour I've faced many times. More or less I have a certain familiarity with all of players.
It's not that important who you're facing. I need to focus on myself because it's really hard to control. I need to be myself the best to perform the best.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports