Who sponsors rising Chinese star Qinwen Zheng: Nike, Gatorade and Wilson already on board
Qinwen Zheng has made a blazing start to the 2024 campaign after a breakout season in 2023 that saw her cement herself as the Chinese No 1.
Qinwen has some traditional tennis sponsors but as a Chinese athlete also has the backing of some of the powerhouses of the superpowers economy.
Her rackets are provided by Wilson with her weapon of choice being the Wilson Pro Staff 97.
She toyed with changes to her racket setup in 2022 but her pursuit of power caused a loss of control that she found unacceptable.
“I think I made one wrong choice with my racquet,” Zheng said.
“I tried to change some details to add more power. But at the end, I found out it wasn’t working for me because in Australia, the entire tournament I felt it was so difficult for me to control the ball.
“I think people could see that I had no control. I really tried because I thought it was my problem at the beginning. But when I came back to the old one, I felt much better.”
Qinwen is kitted out by Nike and has also earned the backing of Gatorade.
She has been sponsored by the Ant Group, who own Alibaba for most of her professional career.
While Qinwen Zheng currently maintains a base in Barcelona, Spain she also has a residence in China close to where she grew up.
Qinwen is estimated to have a net worth somewhere in the region of $3 million although little reliable data exists on her earnings and how they are taxed in Spain or China.
Born in Shiyan, Hubei Province, China Qinwen excelled as a junior player with her evident talent making itself known through promising runs at the junior Slams.
Her parents encouraged her participate in many different sports as a child including table tennis.
Qinwen earned the 2023 WTA Most Improved Player of year award ending the season at No 15 and inside the Top 20 for the first time.
That season she won maiden WTA titles in at Palerm and Zhengzhou and also reached final at WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai.
She won the WTA Newcomer of the Year award in 2022 having reached her first WTA final at Tokyo and also making the last four at Melbourne Summer Set 1, as qualifier, a quarter-final at the WTA 1000 event in Toronto and gained the last 16 at Roland Garros.
READ MORE: Qinwen Zheng puts first set loss down to overthinking
