Idol at NCU- Zheng Wushuang : Luck is just nickname of diligence

On November 29, the professional finals tournament of 2020 CTA Tour and National Tennis Championships ended in Chengdu. Zheng Wushuang, student of Class 2017 , majoring sports training of the School of Physical Education at NCU, and her partner Feng Shuo from Beijing claimed the women's doubles crown, setting the best record of Jiangxi tennis players in the national competitions.

At the age of 9, Zheng Wushuang began her professional tennis training. Since then, she has frequently participated in youth singles and youth doubles competitions, of which she entered the finals 22 times, winning 8 championships. In the adult competition, she got into the finals 12 times with a total of 8 championships.

The competition results Zheng Wushuang has during her university life are also outstanding. In 2018, she won the third place in the women's singles Group D of the Chinese University Tennis Championships (Finals); in 2019, she won the first place in the women's Group D and it is the first time Nanchang University has got the first place in Group D; in 2020, she won the third place in the National Tennis Team Championships and the doubles champion of the National Tennis Championships, both of which were the best results ever in Jiangxi tennis history.

“It’s totally unbelievable!” “Like a miracle of eighth seed upset.”-That’s how Zheng Wushuang described her feelings of winning the women’s doubles championship. In the first round of the finals, Zheng Wushuang and her partner Feng Shuo edged out the women's doubles No. 2 seeds Zheng Saisai and Zhang Ying, winning a tough and exciting game. Entering the finals with a narrow victory, Zheng Wushuang’s pairing maintained a positive mindset after losing the first set, played firmly and steadily, and eventually made a remarkable turnaround, defeating the powerful pairing of Jiang Xinyu and Tang Qianhui to clinch the title of women's doubles champions.

Speaking of the reasons for the victory, Zheng Wushuang said, "In terms of doubles, since our opponents in each round are among the best in China, it left us no pressure. We only wanted to try our best and play well in every game without thinking too much of the results. Just because of that, I won one game after another and in the end got the title.” She also added, “I have worked with my partner Feng Shuo before. I’m used to standing on the left, while she is used to the right. Our previous cooperation has made us understand each other pretty well."

Once, the mentality of winning the game had bothered Zheng for quite a while. When she talked about her first game overseas, the Australian Open, she was still feeling regretted: “ When I went abroad to compete for the first time, I was too nervous to show my actual strength. " When asked about the current mindset of playing games abroad, Zheng said in a humorous way, "Every time I go abroad, I am still nervous. and I will also feel upset because of not fully showing my strength. But now that I have travelled more and had more competitions overseas, I could kind of shut off my nervousness outside my system."

She kept saying that winning the game was just a luck, however, behind the so-called accidental upset was Zheng's day-after-day persistence. She started practicing at the age of 9 and said with a smile that it was mainly because she was energetic, active and a fast runner when she was a child. "At first, my father wanted to send me to the football team, but in the end he listened to his friends' opinions and chose tennis." Maybe Zheng started learning tennis by accident, but her hard work and dedication are for real. “They say that I’m cool and not so approachable.” Zheng said in a big smile. In her schoolmates’ and friends’ eyes, Zheng Wushuang is not talkative, but she is extremely serious about playing tennis and willing to fight and accept challenge.

Zheng gained a lot in the tournament. "I also won a round in singles this time. Although I didn't play well, my level improved significantly in the second round. I lost the game, yet my confidence was built. I was not very passive against the best national players, and the scores were very close. I learned a lot from playing against these top-notch players. It's good that some of my drawbacks were exposed during the game, so I can continue to work on them in future training. "

"My idol is Zheng Jie. She and I have common traits. We are both not very tall female tennis players. Zheng Jie never gives up, she always takes every point and every set seriously. " Despite some lack of physical ability, Zheng Wushuang relies on her swift movement and good rhythm to fight against her opponents. The hard work of her idol and her dedication to tennis encourage her to grow.

Nowadays, tennis has become an indispensable part of Zheng Wushuang's life. She has her own dream and goal-to becoming the best tennis player in China. "I am preparing for the National Games next year. My goal is to become the number one female tennis player in the country. I want to make more and more people fall in love with tennis through my own efforts." It is this kind of ambition and enthusiasm for tennis supports Zheng to go further on the road of sports.