In the second round of the Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen faced off against German veteran Siegemund and ultimately lost with a score of 0:2. After the match, the two penalties given by the umpire are likely to become a hot topic among fans. Both penalties were issued due to Zheng Qinwen's excessive time spent preparing to serve, especially after the second warning in the second set, which caused her to lose control of her emotions and miss a first serve opportunity. It is evident that these two penalties were quite crucial.
Of course, there is no "if" in my tennis matches. These two penalties were seen as extremely unfair by many Chinese fans, and even the umpire was criticized by them. But was there really a problem with these penalties? It can be said that they do seem harsh, but their fairness is beyond doubt. After all, following the two warnings from the umpire, the broadcast camera immediately focused on the timer next to the umpire, which is used to calculate the player's serving preparation time. It is clear that the umpire made the decision based entirely on the timer and not on a subjective judgment that Zheng Qinwen's serving time was too long. Zheng Qinwen was indeed 100% over the limit, and according to the rules, she was not wronged at all by the penalty.
In fact, the situation where Zheng Qinwen took too long to serve is not the first time it has appeared. During last year's Paris Olympics, in the quarter-finals, Zheng Qinwen eliminated American player Navarro, and after the match, Navarro complained about Zheng Qinwen's long serving time. Three months later, when Navarro participated again, she brought up this issue once more.
At that time, Navarro was the loser of the match, and many Chinese fans criticized her, thinking that she couldn't accept defeat and believed that she used Zheng Qinwen's long serving time to disrupt her own rhythm as an excuse for losing. Looking back, Navarro's two reminders were not taken seriously by Zheng Qinwen and her team, resulting in a significant loss in this Australian Open match. Although public opinion at the time thought Navarro couldn't accept defeat, if Zheng Qinwen and her team had taken this issue seriously afterward, perhaps the current situation would not be so bad.
In this match, Zheng Qinwen's performance was indeed poor, especially noticeable was her extremely low first serve percentage and lack of variation in return shots. However, without those two penalties, it is likely that Zheng Qinwen would have had no problem advancing to the second round. Therefore, the problem of taking too long to serve is something that Zheng Qinwen and her team should pay more attention to in the future. The controversy raised by Navarro six months ago may have been mixed with personal emotions, but this time it was a real loss, and Zheng Qinwen and her team must take it seriously.
