Wildcard Zheng becomes first Chinese champion in Beijing, beats Andreeva

Zheng Qinwen has written a new chapter in Chinese tennis history. The wildcard beat Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-4 in Sunday's final of the China Open, becoming the first Chinese woman to lift the trophy at the WTA 1000 event in Beijing. She clinched it on her first match point with an ace to Andreeva's backhand side, then fell to the court in tears.

The title is the sixth of her career, her first at WTA 1000 level and her first trophy of any kind since Tokyo in late 2024. According to the WTA, Zheng is also the first wildcard and, at No. 54, the lowest-ranked champion in Beijing since the tournament was relaunched in 2004.

Three set points saved, eleven points in a row

The final turned in the tenth game. Andreeva, the No. 4 seed, led 5-4 in the opening set and had three set points in the tenth game. Zheng saved all three, levelled at 5-5, and then won every remaining point of the set, 11 straight in total, to take it 7-5.

The second set was level at 4-4 before Zheng broke for 5-4 and served it out, sealing the 1-hour, 43-minute win with that final ace. It was her 14th career victory over a top-10 player and her third this season.

Her route to the title was anything but smooth. The WTA notes that Zheng dropped 78 games across the event, the most by a winner at Tier I or WTA 1000 level since that format began in 1990, comfortably more than the 66 Belinda Bencic conceded in Toronto in 2015. The struggle came early in the draw, though. Zheng won her last three matches in straight sets, including a 7-5, 6-2 semi-final against Elise Mertens, who had knocked out Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals.

From No. 160 back towards the top 30

The win completes a remarkable recovery. Zheng, the 2024 Olympic champion and an Australian Open finalist that same year, had elbow surgery in 2025 and missed close to six months with the injury to her dominant right arm. Her ranking, once as high as No. 4, slid as low as No. 160 in the middle of this season.

The first real signs of a turnaround came at the US Open in August, where she reached the quarter-finals with wins over Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek. Beijing is the payoff. The WTA says the title will lift her back into the top 30 when the new rankings are published.

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Consolation for Andreeva: No. 3 on Monday

For Mirra Andreeva, the defeat still comes with a milestone. This year's Roland Garros champion had crushed Nikola Bartůňková 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-finals and is projected to rise to a career-high No. 3 on Monday. According to the WTA, that makes her the third-youngest woman this century to reach the top three, after Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters.

Andreeva gave her opponent full credit. "For sure today she played great," she said, adding that she expects Zheng to be "raising her level even more soon." Looking at her own game, she said: "The only thing I can do is to try to do something different on the next match that I have."

The Asian swing continues straight away. Wuhan starts on Monday, 12 October, and has already been hit by eleven withdrawals, including Elena Rybakina and defending champion Coco Gauff.