Zheng Qinwen’s unusual act throughout a pre-match warmup in Indian Wells seemingly left Boris Becker in disbelief and questioning what occurred there.
On X, footage was posted of Marta Kostyuk hitting pre-match volleys on the web. However then, the Ukrainian abruptly stops at one level and appears on the chair umpire with a shocked face.
Apparently, Zheng determined she did not wish to do this anymore and needed to hit some serves as an alternative. Chair umpire Thomas Sweeney intervened – and after resetting the clock from 1:40 to 4 minutes – the Chinese language tennis star agreed to ship extra balls to Kostyuk so she might proceed together with her volleys.
It occurred with 1:40 left on the warmup clock. You possibly can see within the pic I posted the clock was reset to 4:00 as a result of Sweeney paused it.
Right here is the clip. Marta doing volleys after which they cease as a result of Qinwen needed to start out serving. Then after negotiation they begin once more. pic.twitter.com/GfDVuEAwg8
— Owen (@kostekcanu) March 12, 2025
Reacting to the bizarre scenario, former six-time Grand Slam champion Becker wrote: “What?!?”
What ?!? https://t.co/HFUDgDS4yP
— Boris Becker (@TheBorisBecker) March 12, 2025
Zheng routed Kostyuk
The incident might have caught within the Ukrainian’s head for a while as she misplaced her serve a complete of 5 instances throughout the match and bought ousted by the world No. 9.
In the meantime, the 2024 Australian Open runner-up is not any stranger to drawing ire from her colleagues.
En path to successful the Paris Olympics gold medal final summer season, Zheng was brutally known as out by Emma Navarro, who described the 22-year-old as “a cut-throat” and stated she “didn’t respect her as a competitor.” After the Olympic remaining, Donna Vekic additionally wasn’t pleased with the Chinese language – did not reveal why precisely – however did say that there have been “controversial” tales about her within the locker room.
In Indian Wells, Zheng revealed that there are two gamers with which she could be keen to kind a friendship. Judging by what occurred in her match in opposition to Kostyuk, it’s protected to say that the Ukrainian is not a type of two gamers.
