Setting a gold standard

Despite her narrow defeat in Riyadh, Zheng Qinwen has set herself a high bar for next season

Resilient, tenacious, brave — whatever superlatives have been used to describe her remarkable year, they all seemed to pale at the moment Zheng Qinwen narrowly missed out on what would have been a perfect sign-off to her 2024 season.

As inconsolable as she looked when receiving the runner-up plate at the King Saud University Indoor Arena, Zheng has every reason to be proud of herself, having lived up to all the praise, regardless of the 6-3, 4-6, 6(2)-7 defeat to world No 3 Coco Gauff in the championship match of the WTA Finals on Saturday in Riyadh.

Coming so close to the coveted year-end trophy, as well as the most lucrative paycheck in women's tennis history, for sure will sting for a while, but the ambitious 22-year-old has already left the tennis world in no doubt that what has already been a fruitful 2024 campaign is just the beginning.