Zheng Qinwen is a new global ambassador for Dior in rapidly-expanding off-court portfolio

Christian Dior, she's all up in the stores! The latest addition to Zheng Qinwen's rapidly-expanding off-court portfolio is as a global amabassador for Dior.

The Olympic champion "embodies the elegance and boldness of Dior style, a femininity in perpetual motion," said the French fashion house in a statement. She will be a new face for Maria Grazia Chiuri's womenswear at the brand, seamlessly integrating into the athletic influences that the Italian has tapped into since becoming Dior's creative director in 2016.

“More than ever, this unique alliance seals the house’s commitment to empowerment and self-assertion, spotlighting the multiple connections that unite the worlds of sport and couture," the brand added.

Zheng spoke about the newly-formed partnership, sleekly unveiled this week, on Saturday in Melbourne in her pre-Australian Open press conference. She that she had an affinity for Dior since her teenage years, and was more than pleased about how the photos for her debut photo shoot came out.

"I think it's my pleasure to have Dior with me," Zheng said. "Since I was 16 years old, Dior has been one of my favorite brands really. I had nice shooting experience from them. When the picture comes up, actually I am the most happy one. [I said] ... 'good pictures, I love it.'

"Wwhen you have sponsors like this, I think you need to make sure you also have the correct behavior inside and outside the court 'cause you want to match with those high brands. For me, Dior is a very, very high brand, everybody knows.

"I just am happy to work with them and thanks that they choose me because there is lot of Olympic champion. I just say I'm lucky. Sometimes I really feel I'm a bit lucky."

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Also this week, it was announced that Zheng has extended her partnership with Alipay, China's digital wallet and payment service, which came on the heels of a new deal with Audi cars at the end of last season. All of that contributed to a significant uptick in Zheng's monetary portfolio in the last year, which according to both Forbes and Sportico topped $20 million in 2024. A year prior, her total take home was just south of $8 million.

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Returning to the Australian Open this week, the site of a major on-court breakthrough for Zheng last year when she became just the second Chinese woman to reach a Grand Slam singles final, the fifth seed faces Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni in the first round, and could see a championship rematch with two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals.