CHINESE STAR CALLED OUT FOR DEPLOYING 'DARK ARTS' IN BACK-TO-BACK MATCHES

(Getty/Dan Istitene)

2024 Australian Open finalist Zheng Qinwen has been exposed for taking a leaf out of the "dark arts" book.

The world No.4 made a deep run at last week's Queen's Club Championships, a WTA 500 event, where she eventually lost to eighth-seed Amanda Anisimova in the semi-finals.

During that run, Zheng also defeated the resurgent Emma Raducanu, but not without controversy.

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The Chinese superstar took a brief timeout as she requested to change shoes, arguing that they were broken, which came at crucial stages on both Raducanu and Anisimova's serves. One came just two points after a changeover, while the other instance occurred on a break point.

"[That] happening two times in a row in the same circumstances on her opponent's serve makes you feel like it was deliberate in some way to try and throw her opponent off," said Matt Roberts from The Tennis Podcast.

"I think we've all defended Zheng quite a lot in the past. There've been some accusations against her, which have felt either really baseless, or just not all that important, like what we heard about how people don't like the fact that she hits winners in the warm-up. I kind of just think, get over yourself.

"But something like this, I didn't love it. I don't think she wants to get a reputation as someone who uses those sorts of dark arts to try and gain an advantage."

David Law, another member of the podcast, later added that he has spoken to players who have "instigated a conversation with the umpire that they didn't need to disrupt an opponent's rhythm".

Moments after her win over Raducanu, the 22-year-old piled the blame on her Nike tennis shoes.

"I have to say that I could not concentrate on playing, but worried about my shoes," she revealed. "I noticed there was something wrong with my shoes, but I didn't realise that the sole has been unglued until the third set."

Zheng also highlighted the issue after exiting the tournament.

"I first noticed it in the first set, but I didn't realise the shoes had already started coming apart. I played through the set, but by the time I went to change them, they had separated so much that I could no longer move properly," last year's Olympic gold medalist said.

"I had no choice but to switch to the pair I wore in the last match, which had caused me to slip multiple times. Unfortunately, neither pair was really suitable for me today. It's a shame — perhaps I wasn't fully prepared for this grass-court tournament."

She was scheduled to feature at the Berlin Open against Elena Rybakina in the opening round, but has withdrawn due to a neck injury.

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