LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 2. Qinwen Zheng of China with new coach Wim Fissette during training on the practice courts in preparation for the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon on July 02, 2023, in London, England. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
Here’s everything you need to know about the coach of Chinese Tennis star Qinwen Zheng – Wim Fissette.
Wim Fissette, the coach of Qinwen Zheng, is a Belgian tennis coach and a former professional player. He is well-known for his successful coaching career, having collaborated with former Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) world number ones such as Victoria Azarenka, Kim Clijsters, Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, and Naomi Osaka. While he reached a career-high singles ranking of 1,291 in 1999 as a player, Fissette has gained greater recognition for his accomplishments as a coach.
Fissette initially assumed the role of Kim Clijsters’ coach when the Belgian tennis star made her comeback to the WTA Tour in 2009. Before her first retirement in 2007, he had been her hitting partner.
During his coaching tenure, Clijsters achieved remarkable success, winning the US Open in 2009 as a wildcard entry and successfully defending her title the following year. Additionally, she secured victory at the 2010 WTA Tour Championships and shortly after, triumphed at the Australian Open in early 2011. Clijsters also briefly held the world number one ranking for a week in 2011.
In 2014, Wim Fissette took on the role of coaching Simona Halep, and their collaboration led to significant improvements in Halep’s performance. During that year, Halep achieved her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open, reached the final of the French Open, and advanced to the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
Her world ranking also soared to a career high of number two in August. However, their partnership concluded by the end of the year as Halep expressed her desire to work with coaches from her native Romania.
In 2018, Wim Fissette took on the coaching role for Angelique Kerber, a two-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one. This partnership was formed after Kerber faced challenges in 2017, leading to her falling out of the top 20 rankings. Kerber was the third major champion Fissette had coached in his career.
However, their collaboration came to an end in October 2018 due to differences in opinion regarding Kerber’s future direction. During their time together, the 30-year-old Kerber, who had previously held the world number one ranking in 2016 but was now ranked third, reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and went on to secure a Wimbledon victory.
Fisette then went on to coach Japanese star Naomi Osaka in 2020 and then became the coach of China’s Qinwen Zheng in the summer of 2023.
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