Zheng Qinwen's absence from Adelaide sparks alarming speculations, netizens say her Australian Open seed spot may be at risk

A new round of attention on Zheng Qinwen has arisen, stemming from the Adelaide 500, a warm-up tournament for next year's Australian Open!

Although the Adelaide event and Zheng Qinwen don't have any special direct link, once the tournament announced the lineup for next year without the Chinese top player’s name, what appeared unrelated suddenly seemed connected in an unseen way.

Since Zheng Qinwen unexpectedly withdrew from her match against Noskova at the China Open, the Chinese top player has been on a long break, fully focused on recovering from injury and preparing for a comeback. Some fans and netizens even speculate that "Zheng might be holding back, preparing a big move to silence doubts about her abilities."

As the new season approaches, many are eager to know Zheng Qinwen’s competition plans for 2026, curious about which tournament she will officially return at to warm up for the Australian Open. The assumption is that after such a long rest, she should have recovered well from her injury, especially since her ranking has dropped out of the world top ten. Everyone expects her to come back strong in January and quickly reclaim her place among the elite players!

It was initially expected that Zheng Qinwen would make her comeback at the 2026 Brisbane 500 tournament. However, when the organizers released the participant list, all top ten female players except Swiatek, Gauff, and Borrani—who are absent due to representing their countries in the United Cup—were registered. Zheng’s name was notably absent, sparking the first wave of concern among the public. Skipping such an important warm-up event is clearly uncharacteristic for her; is she planning to jump straight into the Australian Open instead?

Soon, some suggested that since there is still the Adelaide 500 before the Australian Open starts, Zheng Qinwen would likely return at that event to prepare for the Open. Otherwise, how could she compete effectively at the Australian Open next year?

Surprisingly, when Adelaide announced its participant list, Zheng Qinwen’s name was once again missing from this key Australian Open warm-up tournament. While many exclaimed that "Zheng is really going to skip straight to the Australian Open again," another frightening speculation arose: can the Chinese top player still keep her seeded position at the Australian Open?

When the Australian Open participant list was previously published and Zheng Qinwen’s name appeared, many of her supporters optimistically said that although she lost her top ten seed status, being seeded 24th was still respectable.

Now, with Zheng not registering for either the Brisbane or Adelaide 500 tournaments, it means she will likely enter next year's Australian Open without any warm-up matches.

Many people worry that Zheng Qinwen’s seed status at the Australian Open might be lost because other players are participating in the lead-up tournaments.

Some netizens pointed out that although Zheng currently ranks 24th, the point difference between her and Kudermetova, who is ranked 30th, is less than 200 points. The gap between Kudermetova and other players behind her is also small. Therefore, if Zheng skips tournaments and others compete normally, a strong performance by any of them could push Zheng’s ranking further down. The speculation that she could fall out of the top 32 and lose her Australian Open seed is not an exaggeration; it is a highly likely scenario.

After dropping out of the world top ten and losing the protection of a top-ten seed, Zheng has already lost many advantages in major tournament draws. If she also loses her seed at the Australian Open, she will face top seeds earlier, increasing the risk of early elimination.

The widespread concern about Zheng Qinwen potentially skipping warm-ups and entering the Australian Open directly is largely related to her experience at Melbourne Park during the 2025 season.

This year, Zheng chose to skip the United Cup and entered the Australian Open without any warm-up. As the world No. 5, she was surprisingly defeated in the second round by the veteran German player Sigmund, causing a stir in the tennis community!

If she again enters the Australian Open without any prior matches and after such a long break, many believe the possibility of her losing in the first round is very high.

Additionally, amid discussions about Zheng Qinwen’s fate at next year’s Australian Open, some have proposed an even bolder theory: that she might withdraw from the tournament altogether.

The reasoning is that the Australian Open has been a lucky venue for Zheng. This year’s direct entry was a last-minute decision, with prior plans to participate announced earlier. In contrast, 2026 shows the opposite, and she recently gave up training to return to China for a surprise sponsor event in Beijing’s Sanlitun. “All signs suggest Zheng’s willingness to compete is low, giving the impression she wants to continue resting.”(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Moonlit River Sky)