Qinwen Zheng Stuns on the Cover of Vogue's December Issue

If 2024 was Qinwen Zheng's breakout year, then 2025 was a season of setbacks. A lingering elbow injury derailed Zheng's campaign, forcing the Chinese trailblazer to miss extensive time and eventually shut down her season in the middle of the Asian Swing.

Despite the disappointing season, Zheng remains one of the most marketable athletes in the world. She earned $19 million in sponsorship deals in 2025, making her the fifth-highest-paid female athlete in the world.

The 23-year-old is continuing to transcend the sport this offseason. Most recently, Zheng graced the cover of Vogue China's December 2025 issue. Yesterday, she shared a flurry of Instagram posts celebrating her photo shoot, thanking the publication and all those who contributed.

Last December, Zheng lamented that she had no time to take a vacation due to her various sponsorship events. Her portfolio of sponsors includes Audi, Porsche, Dior, Beats, Nike, Rolex, Ancôme, and McDonald's.

Tennis fans have praised Zheng's Vogue cover photo shoot and are hopeful to see her regain her form in 2026. Zheng sank to the WTA World No. 24 by the end of the year with a record of 20-12.

Zheng stirred up a debate toward the end of the season when she disagreed with most players about the need to shorten the season. She reasoned, "because the strongest players survive." Her remarks were not well-received by many tennis fans on social media.

However, Novak Djokovic is a supporter of Zheng and recently spoke about the importance of her looking at "the big picture" as she recovers from her elbow injury.

Additionally, Coco Gauff has praised Zheng's stamina on the court. "I feel like, physically, there are very few players on tour who can really hang in there with me. I think the person so far that has pushed me to that has definitely been Qinwen [Zheng].

"We've played over three hours multiple times, and she looks fine after the match, and so do I. But other than that, I don't think there's that many people that I've done three hours and they look fine after the match."

Zheng has the potential to be one of the most popular (and successful) players in women's tennis. Right now, her biggest hurdle is getting healthy for another marathon season. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.

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