Two Asian Queens kick off the Australian Open warm-up opener; netizens highlight two major coincidences between Nana and Zheng Qinwen

As the countdown to the 2026 new season enters its final day, the time for the first warm-up exhibition match prepared for the Australian Open has been officially set, with the opening match jointly launched by Leylah Fernandez and Zheng Qinwen, two prominent Asian stars from different eras.

After the announcement that Leylah Fernandez and Zheng Qinwen would participate together in the Australian Open pre-tournament exhibition match, many have been curious about the specific schedule. Now the time is officially confirmed: it will start at 2 PM Beijing time on January 13, 2026. This timing is quite convenient for fans and netizens who either have the day off or flexible work hours.

This exhibition match has generated great anticipation, mainly because it marks Zheng Qinwen’s return to the net after Noskova’s withdrawal and serves as her debut for the new season. Fans and netizens are also eager to learn about the condition of China’s top player after such a long period of rest and recovery from injury.

Since Zheng Qinwen ended her 2025 season early and even announced her withdrawal right after carrying the flag for Hubei at the National Games, many have assumed her injury was quite serious. After all, carrying the flag at the opening ceremony but then withdrawing must have involved a lot of public pressure. Furthermore, Zheng Qinwen missed all the usual warm-up tournaments before the Australian Open, leading many to speculate that she intends to appear at the Open fully healthy.

Therefore, Zheng Qinwen’s confirmed participation in the pre-Australian Open exhibition match, which serves as a warm-up for this Grand Slam season opener, naturally leads the public to believe her injury has been completely resolved.

As a result, many hope Zheng Qinwen can take full advantage of this exhibition match to prepare well for the Australian Open. Without adequate warm-up, it would be difficult to win against other players who have fully prepared.

However, some worry that if Zheng Qinwen participates in such an exhibition so soon after recovering from injury, it may pose certain risks and make it hard to achieve ideal results.

The concern is that pushing intensity too quickly might cause a relapse of the injury, leading to more severe consequences. Additionally, if Leylah Fernandez, who has warmed up sufficiently, does not cooperate fully in a purely exhibition setting and only Zheng Qinwen exerts herself, the overall effect might be quite limited.

For example, last year before the Australian Open main draw, Zheng Qinwen played an exhibition match against Svitolina, despite missing warm-up tournaments. At that time, she overwhelmed the young Ukrainian player with a wild appearance, seeming to be in excellent form. However, after the tournament started, Zheng was defeated in the second round by German veteran Siegemund, making fans realize that Svitolina was likely just going through the motions in the exhibition, not fully cooperating to help Zheng improve.

Regarding the current concerns about Zheng Qinwen, some netizens bluntly say that relying on just one exhibition match to warm up for the Australian Open is obviously challenging. The Australian Open organizers are better at generating buzz, “Putting Zheng Qinwen’s season debut in the opening exhibition match naturally attracts attention from those who follow her closely. Remember, she just won the WTA’s Most Popular Player award again.”

The strong interest in the Zheng Qinwen and Leylah Fernandez exhibition match stems not only from it being China’s top player’s season return but also because two generations of Asian queens meet in this exhibition, with the winner hoping to start the Australian Open main draw on a positive note.

Fans and netizens have been very attentive to this exhibition match and have identified two major coincidences that have further increased the hype.

These two coincidences are: first, both Zheng Qinwen and Leylah Fernandez have reached top-four world rankings and have held the position of Asia’s top player for a considerable time; second, both have been runners-up at the Australian Open, and both lost to a player named Sabalenka in the final.

Once these two coincidences were pointed out, some joked about the Australian Open organizers, questioning whether scheduling Leylah Fernandez and Zheng Qinwen to open the exhibition match was a coincidence or a deliberate move to attract attention!(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Moonlit Starry Sky)