Qinwen Zheng captured her first WTA 1000 title after defeating Mirra Andreeva in the China Open ultimate.
Zheng beat Andreeva in straight units, 7-5, 6-4, to become the first Chinese participant to win the title in Beijing since the match’s inauguration in 2004. The 24-year-old, who had plummeted outside the high 100 earlier this yr due to harm points, will rise to twenty third in the world with her triumph when the rankings are up to date on Monday.
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Andreeva, meanwhile, will secure a career-high rating of third in the world by making the ultimate of the China Open.
Photo by Greg Baker / AFP via Getty Images
Mirra Andreeva reacts after dropping to Qinwen Zheng in Beijing
Andreeva was up against it in the ultimate against Zheng, who was taking part in in entrance of an understandably partisan crowd in Beijing. The 19-year-old Russian addressed the pro-Zheng crowd in her runner-up speech after the loss.
“It’s been a very nice week playing in Beijing. Of course, thanks to everybody who supported me throughout the whole week. I thought maybe today I would hear one ‘let’s go Mirra’, but no. Yeah, of course, congrats to Qinwen and the team for a great week.
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“Good luck for the relaxation of the tournaments that you play for the relaxation of the yr. And yeah, of course, it’s been a very good week. I love taking part in in Beijing. It’s one of my favorite tournaments. So, of course, I had a very, very good time.”
Zheng’s victory marks a huge milestone in her remarkable comeback since undergoing surgery on her elbow last season. After a first-round exit at Wimbledon in 2025, Zheng announced she had completed the surgery, and did not return until the China Open in September later that season.
She retired in the second match of that China Open campaign and was consequently out of action until February 2026. With her ranking dropping well outside the top 100, Zheng missed out on automatic qualification for this year’s US Open.
Zheng came through qualifying in New York before going on to reach the quarterfinals, beating Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek en route. With the China Open title clinched, former world number four Zheng appears to be back to her very best.
Photo by Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Kyle Edmund states what Qinwen Zheng’s next goal should be
Zheng put collectively an unbelievable marketing campaign in Beijing, with wins over Elina Svitolina, Elise Mertens and Andreeva. Analysing the match on Sky Sports, former British participant Kyle Edmund said: It was wonderful. She has performed so much tennis this week.
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“It was virtually the good ending. Not fairly so much the last few minutes but getting through all those matches in three units, successful the three matches, going all the manner and then in the last few rounds she was actually taking part in some wonderful tennis.
“She played really well in the semifinals and today she was playing the third-best player in the world and really semi-dominating a lot of the rallies, so she thoroughly deserved to win it. What a week. I think this is just a platform and a stepping stone to get back into the world’s top ten and win a Grand Slam. That is definitely the next target.”
Zheng is a former Grand Slam finalist, having made the championship match of the 2024 Australian Open.
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