Zheng Qinwen has made a coaching addition as the world No. 7 is bringing in 2002 French Open champion Albert Costa ahead of the WTA 1000 tournaments in Doha and Dubai.
Before the start of the 2025 season, the Chinese added Dante Bottini to her team because her full-time coach Pere Riba had surgery.
Unfortunately for the 2024 Australian Open runner-up, she didn’t enjoy much success with Bottini at Melbourne Park after shockingly losing to Laura Siegemund in the second round.
Since Riba is still unable to rejoin her team, Zheng decided to try with a new voice.
During his career, Costa won one Grand Slam, reached a career-high ranking of No. 6 in the world, and he was also Spain’s Davis Cup team captain between 2008 and 2011 – the Spanish side won two titles during that period.
Now, the 2002 French Open winner will try to help the Chinese world No. 8 kickstart her season in the Middle East.
Zheng Qinwen© Sports China/X – Fair Use
Zheng turns to Costa while her full-time coach is recovering
With Riba, the 22-year-old elevated her game to a completely new level and became one of the best players in the world.
“He always has a lot of passion on tennis. This is important,” the 2024 Paris Olympics gold medalist said of Riba at the WTA Finals.
“He really wants to be a good coach. Not so many coaches on tour have this type of passion. Many coaches, they just consider this as a high prize job.
“But there are a few coaches on tour, they really love the tennis, they want their player to become the best, they want their player to improve every single day. I think he’s this type of coach.”
If Costa does well with Zheng in the upcoming period, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Chinese decide to continue with him even when Riba returns to her team.
Tennis World USA