Coach Pere Riba clears air on arguments with Zheng Qinwen

Coach Pere Riba has nothing but positive words about Zheng Qinwen as a player and person and has dismissed their on-court arguments as something negative, saying it’s just that the Chinese tennis star wants so badly to improve and win every time she steps on the court. 

After working together for two and a half years in their first stint, the two split in mid-2023 and that was when the 22-year-old hired Wim Fissette. If you remember well, that collaboration ended abruptly after the US Open and with the current world No. 7 accusing Fissette of just ditching her because Naomi Osaka contacted him and offered him a job.

While Zheng was furious over what happened to her in late 2023, it also left the doors for her to reunite with former Spanish tennis player Riba. Needless to say, their second stint has been a massive success as the Chinese made her first Grand Slam, WTA 1000, WTA Finals, and Olympics finals this year – she won the Paris Olympics, while she finished as runner-up at the Australian Open, Wuhan and the season-ending tournament.

It should be mentioned that Zheng’s runs at the Olympics at the WTA Finals were especially impressive, considering that she was making her debut in those major events.

But despite her outstanding year, Zheng can still be fiery at times, and that includes arguing with the 36-year-old coach. 

“She has a great heart. When you know her – because you have to know the people – she’s an amazing person, she has a great heart. But of course, when she enters the court, me I have a lot of fights with her on court, because she is really ambitious. And me, also I want her to succeed. She is a really good tennis player because she has this character, this is the reason,” Riba told The National.

“But sometimes, she has to control the emotions and she still is so young. But no doubt that she’s an amazing person. And sometimes this behavior happens with all the players, because all the players want to win. She’s so young, and these…