Tennis ace becomes first domestic singles winner at China Open to mark strong comeback season

Wildcard Zheng Qinwen capped her China Open run with an ace on match point, downing No 4 seed Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-4 on Oct 11 night to become the first Chinese player to win the title at her home tournament — and claim her maiden WTA 1000 crown.

The 24-year-old fought off three set points to take a tight opening set 7-5, reeling off the last 11 points, before breaking late in the second to seal victory in one hour and 43 minutes and send Beijing’s National Tennis Center into a frenzy.

“I always feel very proud to play in front of my home crowd. I always want to show them my best level, because I know how much they support me,” Zheng said. “I don’t want to let them down, and at the same time I don’t want to let myself down. In a way, it’s pressure, but, at the same time, it gives me motivation.

“The feeling was incredible to win here in Beijing, in front of my home crowd. It has been one of my dreams,” she said.

Andreeva, this year’s French Open champion, was gracious in defeat. “For sure, today she played great. We all know that she’s had a tough year,” said the 19-year-old. “I think that she’s going to be raising her level even more soon.”

The title caps a remarkable turnaround for Zheng, who won China’s first Olympic tennis singles gold medal in Paris in 2024 — a standout year in which she reached world No 5 by year-end — before an elbow injury slammed the brakes on her rise last year.

Plagued by injuries, she tumbled to No 160 by June. Zheng had not strung together more than two straight wins at any tournament before arriving in New York, where she battled through qualifying to net seven wins in a row and storm into the US Open quarterfinals, falling to eventual champion Elena Rybakina on Sept 9.

That run featured two stunning comebacks: a 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 upset of 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys after trailing 0-5 in the third set, and a 7-5, 6-3 round-of-16 stunner over six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek after bouncing back from 0-5 in the first set.

Her US Open resurgence raised home fans’ expectations ahead of her performance in Beijing — and her historic China Open title delivered on that promise, marking a highlight of a booming Chinese season that includes the Shanghai Masters and the Wuhan Open.

Zheng’s comeback drew widespread attention and drove China Open ticket sales to a record high.

Total attendance at the National Tennis Center is projected to exceed 450,000, up 25 percent year on year, said Chen Jie, executive deputy director and secretary-general of the China Open Organizing Committee, at a news conference on Oct 11. Of those, 60 percent came from outside Beijing and nearly 10,000 from overseas.

Single-day attendance surpassed 35,000 for six consecutive days, topping 40,000 on both Oct 1 and 2. Overall ticket revenue reached 132 million yuan ($19.7 million), up 48 percent year on year and a record high, and tournament-related consumer spending is expected to exceed 55 million yuan, an increase of 55 percent, Chen added.

Contact the writers at xingwen@chinadaily.com.cn