Beijing’s WTA 1000 draw has produced an unexpected semifinal line-up on hard courts, with home wild card Zheng Qinwen joined by Elise Mertens, Mirra Andreeva and Nikola Bartunkova. Only one of the four remaining players is ranked inside the Top 15, while three are chasing a first WTA 1000 trophy.
The match
Zheng moved into the last four with a straight-sets quarterfinal victory over sixth seed Elina Svitolina, ending a run in which each of her first four Beijing matches had gone the distance. She made an immediate impact with an early break, added two more in the first set and then held firm through a second-set tiebreak.
The Chinese player arrived in Beijing after an increasingly productive late-season stretch. Having skipped Cincinnati for a training block in Florida, Zheng came through US Open qualifying to reach the quarterfinals in New York and has now gone one round further in her home tournament. She has won 12 of her past 13 matches, having played a deciding set in nine of her previous 10 before facing Svitolina.
Mertens, meanwhile, earned her first win over Iga Swiatek with a 7-6 (0), 6-3 quarterfinal performance. The Belgian won 87 percent of points behind her first serve and did not allow Swiatek a break opportunity. It followed straight-set wins over Coco Gauff and Swiatek after tougher early rounds against Katie Volynets and Jelena Ostapenko, both of which required three sets.
The victory sends Mertens into a WTA 1000 semifinal for the first time since Dubai in 2021. It is her third semifinal at this level, though she has yet to claim a WTA 1000 title. She also remains in the doubles draw with Diana Shnaider and is due to play that semifinal on Saturday.
“Recovery is key,” Mertens said. “Eat, sleep and repeat the same. I just have to focus on the singles first. That is definitely the goal.”
In the other half, Bartunkova continued the strongest week of her career by defeating fellow Czech Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-0 in 67 minutes. The 20-year-old opened the match by winning five straight games and closed it with seven in a row against the world No. 8, after previously recording the biggest win of her career over world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.
Bartunkova used deep returns, sharp variety and early-strike court positioning to deny Muchova the chance to establish her rhythm. In the second game, four consecutive returns at Muchova’s feet drew four errors and produced the break that set the quarterfinal in motion. It is only Bartunkova’s third WTA Tour semifinal and her first at WTA 1000 level.
Andreeva reached the opposite semifinal by beating Ekaterina Alexandrova in two tiebreak sets, earning her first victory over the experienced Russian after two earlier defeats. Alexandrova served for the first set at 5-3 and later held a 6-5 advantage, while Andreeva saw a 5-2 lead disappear in the second. The 19-year-old recovered to take five of the final six points in the second-set tiebreak.
The French Open champion has now won eight consecutive sets since dropping her opening set of the tournament. She converted four of seven break points against Alexandrova; the match statistics recorded 23 errors against 16 unforced errors, including a 15-5 ratio in the second set.
The next round
Zheng will meet Mertens for a place in the China Open final. Their only previous meeting came in Charleston last year, when Zheng prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Andreeva faces Bartunkova in a rematch of their US Open third-round contest from two months ago. Andreeva won that encounter 6-2, 7-6 (5), but expects another demanding contest.
“Although I won at the US Open, I still felt that the match was difficult,” Andreeva said. “There were a lot of ups and downs. I think it will be very entertaining for people watching. She is an amazing player, and I am very excited to play her again.”
