China hails ‘Queen Wen,’ the tennis star who fulfilled a dream…see more

Zheng Qinwen’s parents sold the family home to fund her tennis dreams and now she is an Olympic champion and China’s biggest current sports star.

The 21-year-old is playing at home for the first time since becoming the first Chinese player to win an Olympic singles tennis gold when she triumphed in Paris.

She did not disappoint in her opening match at the China Open, sweeping aside 71st-ranked Russian Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 6-1 in front of an adoring Beijing crowd Saturday.

She did not disappoint in her opening match at the China Open, sweeping aside 71st-ranked Russian Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 6-1 in front of an adoring Beijing crowd Saturday.

Zheng was taken aback by the atmosphere, calling it “insane” and saying she had hardly ever seen a crowd so full.

“I was a little bit shocked,” said Zheng, who trains in Barcelona and is at a best-ever ranking of seven in the world but tipped to go higher.