"Don't make me call you racist" - Fans slam WTA after bizarre Zheng Qinwen mistake at Italian Open

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) came under fire from several tennis fans over its questionable use of Zheng Qinwen's name in a promotional image of the lineup of women's singles quarterfinal matchups at the 2025 Italian Open. Zheng, the World No. 8, is set to face the top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in one of the quarterfinals at the prestigious claycourt event's WTA 1000 tournament.

On Monday, May 12, the official X (formerly Twitter) handle of the WTA posted a promotional image featuring the names and faces of the 2025 Italian Open's women's singles quarterfinalists based on the respective matchups in the following format: 'A.Sabalenka vs Z.Qinwen', 'C.Gauff vs M.Andreeva', 'J.Paolini vs D.Shnaider', 'P.Stearns vs E.Svitolina'. The post was captioned:

"The elite eight 🤩"

Several fans took objection to the way Zheng Qinwen's name was written. This stemmed from the fact that in her native Chinese, her family name is Zheng and Qinwen happens to be her given name.

When Chinese names are written in English, they typically feature family names first and given names second, a drastic departure from what's followed in Western countries. Also, in the West, first names are equivalent to given names and second names are equivalent to family names if compared to the Chinese naming system.

The objecting fans suggested that 'Q.Zheng' would have been the appropriate way to write the 22-year-old's name based on how the other quarterfinalists' names were written. For instance, the Chinese's 2025 Italian Open quarterfinal opponent Aryna Sabalenka's name was written as 'A.Sabalenka'. Here, the initial from her given name Aryna was used first, followed by the family name of Sabalenka.

"Don’t make me call you racist, WTA. Simplest s**t like a player’s name can’t even be done right," a fan wrote.

"Also dead at Z.Qinwen 😭😭😭 like pls," commented another.

"Zheng is the last name, Qinwen is the first name. Come on, guys," another fan chimed in.

"Pls.... Zheng is Qinwen's last name....," yet another fan echoed the sentiments of the previous enthusiasts.

"Her last name is Zheng. Her first name is Qinwen," stated one quite bluntly.

"Y'all know your players so well… Qinwen isnt her last name," another added.

Sabalenka is the favorite to win against Zheng in Rome. The Belarusian is in red-hot form and her head-to-head record against the Chinese is a supremely dominant one.

Zheng Qinwen yet to register a victory against Aryna Sabalenka on the WTA Tour

Aryna Sabalenka (left) and Zheng Qinwen (right) after the pair's quarterfinal clash at the 2025 Miami Open (Source: Getty)

So far, there have been six WTA Tour-level meetings between Zheng Qinwen and Aryna Sabalenka. One of them was a Grand Slam final at the 2024 Australian Open. All six of them have gone the Belarusian's way.

The last time they faced each other was in the quarterfinals of this year's Miami Open. On that occasion, Sabalenka registered a relatively straightforward 6-2, 7-5 victory. In fact, Zheng has only been able to take one set off of the reigning No. 1 across their six matches. This rare feat came about in the final of the 2024 Wuhan Open.

Sabalenka came into the Italian Open on the back of a title triumph at the Madrid Open. So far in Rome, Sofia Kenin has been the only one to win a set against the Belarusian.