BEIJING — China’s junior No. 1 Sun Xinran will step into the China Open main draw on Thursday, with the 16-year-old handed a WTA 1000 wild card for her first tour-level appearance. Sun opens against Germany’s Eva Lys in Beijing, taking on a professional field she sees as a crucial measuring point.
The Shenzhen-born teenager arrives after a breakthrough junior season capped by the US Open girls’ singles title. While the China Open presents a sharp rise in opposition, Sun said her immediate target is straightforward: play her own game and compete for each point.
Junior run built toward New York title
- Sun reached the Roland Garros girls’ final earlier this season, where she was beaten by Alisa Oktiabreva.
- She then made the Wimbledon final, losing 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to Anna Pushkareva.
- At the US Open, Sun returned to the final and overturned Pushkareva 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 to claim her first junior Grand Slam championship.
Sun said the defeats in Paris and London had been difficult, but discussions with her coach helped reshape the preparation for New York. Reaching another final surprised her, she said, yet she and her team stayed committed to their tactical plan rather than dwelling on the possibility of another loss.
Her junior record has also included two J500 trophies. She won the Orange Bowl in Fort Lauderdale in December 2025 and added the Milan title in May 2026, becoming the first Chinese player to win two events at that level. In June, she rose to No. 1 in the junior rankings, following Wang Xiyu in 2018 and Xu Shilin in 2014 as the third Chinese woman to hold that position.
Belgrade base and early professional experience
Sun first picked up a racket after accompanying her mother, a recreational player, to the courts in Shenzhen. She said she enjoyed the sport immediately and began pursuing it more seriously after early results suggested she had ability.
With family support, she moved to Belgrade when she was 10. Sun has trained at Tennis Park Belgrade and worked with coaches Goran Zivotic and Goran Krivokuca for the past five years.
She has already accumulated a 23-10 record across ITF World Tennis Tour and WTA 125 competition, winning consecutive W15 titles in Sharm El Sheikh in October and November 2025. Beijing, however, will be her first match in a WTA main draw.
Sun acknowledged that the junior No. 1 ranking does not erase the gap to the professional circuit. She identified increased power as an area for improvement, noting that established tour players offer more strength and refined technique. The China Open, she said, offers a chance to learn directly from that standard.
Zheng Qinwen provides a home inspiration
Sun shares the Beijing draw with Zheng Qinwen, the former world No. 4 and 2024 Olympic gold medallist, who has also received a main-draw wild card.
Among Sun’s strongest memories is Zheng’s Olympic comeback against Emma Navarro in Paris. Zheng trailed by a set and 5-3 before recovering for a 6-7(7), 7-6(4), 6-1 victory in three hours and 12 minutes. She followed it with another escape, defeating Angelique Kerber 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(6).
Sun said Zheng’s ability to keep fighting from difficult scoreboard positions was the quality she most wanted to emulate, including when facing a large deficit or an opponent holding set point.
Zheng has already offered encouragement to the junior champion. She praised Sun’s title-winning achievements as significant for Chinese junior tennis and said she expects to see the teenager more frequently on tour within the next year or two.
“She is very talented,” Zheng said, adding that China needs more players of Sun’s potential to keep lifting the country’s level in the women’s game.
For now, Sun’s next step is clear: a first-round China Open test against Lys, with her first WTA 1000 main-draw match waiting in front of a home crowd.
