'Popular' Zheng Qinwen shares why she likes that 'nobody cares' about her in Tokyo

Today at 08:20 PM

Zheng Qinwen didn't enjoy very much the fact that she had to constantly be surrounded by security staff during her time in China because her fame skyrocketed but now likes that "nobody cares about me" in Japan. 

Between late November and mid-October, the 22-year-old played in Beijing and her hometown Wuhan. Since she was a runner-up at this year's Australian Open and also won the Paris Olympics, there was no doubt that she would be the main attraction to the locals during back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments in China. 

And Zheng - who was a semifinalist in Beijing and the runner-up in Wuhan - was constantly flocked by fans. According to the 22-year-old, there were even situations when 50 fans would be waiting in line for her to sign something and she would spend 40 minutes just giving autographs. 

"Everywhere I go there must be security because people come up to me and asking for autographs. Which is a good thing because I'm more famous. But at the same time, you feel like you are always under people's eyes," the Chinese tennis star shared.

After not playing last week so she could mentally and physically recharge after two deep runs in China, the world No. 7 is back in action at this week's WTA 500 tournament in Tokyo. And although Zheng is the top seed at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, it is a completely different situation compared to Beijing and Wuhan.

"If it's one or two it's fine, but if they stop me it can be 50. That's what happened to me when I came back from Cincinnati to China. I was stopped for 40 minutes just to sign autographs... I can have breakfast here alone. Three days in a row, breakfast alone, nobody cares about me. Nobody comes and asks for signatures. I just feel normal," the Paris Olympics gold medalist added. 

After a first-round bye, Zheng defeated Moyuka Uchijima in the Tokyo round-of-16.