Zheng Qinwen will play for the China Open title after ending China’s long wait for a finalist in Beijing, beating 13th seed Elise Mertens 7-5, 6-2 in Saturday night’s WTA 1000 semifinal.
The match
The Olympic champion needed 1 hour and 32 minutes to secure her place in the championship match, becoming the first Chinese player to reach the China Open final. Before Zheng’s breakthrough, home players had lost all seven of their previous semifinals at the tournament.
Zheng made the sharper opening and then absorbed Mertens’ resistance late in the first set. After navigating that pressure to take the set 7-5, the Chinese star accelerated through the finish, claiming eight of the last 10 games to complete a 6-2 second set.
The result puts Zheng into the 11th WTA Tour final of her career and marks her second final at WTA 1000 level.
“The China Open has been very good to me,” Zheng said after the match. “I always want to bring my best tennis here. For me, it feels like a fifth Grand Slam. I really want to leave everything on the court in this stadium.”
The next round
Zheng will face fourth seed Mirra Andreeva in the final, with the Beijing crowd set for one more home appearance from their leading player.
Andreeva, 19, reached the title match earlier on Saturday with a 6-2, 6-2 semifinal win over Nikola Bartunkova.
Zheng holds a 1-0 head-to-head advantage over Andreeva. Their previous meeting came in the 2024 China Open quarterfinals, where Zheng recovered from a set behind to win.
