Zheng Qinwen Beats Andreeva to Win China Open Title

Zheng Qinwen closed it with an ace and hit the floor. The wildcard beat No. 4 seed Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-4 in the China Open final in Beijing on Sunday, becoming the first Chinese woman to win the tournament, per the WTA.

It is her first WTA 1000 title, the sixth title of her career, and her first since Tokyo in late 2024. This is a player who fell to No. 160 in the rankings midway through this season after nearly six months out with an elbow injury, per the WTA and the Straits Times. She came into Beijing ranked 54th and now heads back toward the top 30.

Zheng Qinwen vs Andreeva: how the final turned

Andreeva came out sharp and broke early for a 2-0 lead. Zheng clawed back, but Andreeva held to go up 5-4 and had three set points in the 10th game, per the WTA. Zheng saved all three, and then she simply took over, winning the final 11 points of the set.

The second set went back and forth with early breaks before Zheng broke again in the ninth game. Andreeva had saved three break points at 4-4, per the Straits Times, but Zheng kept pressing, got the break, and served it out with an ace. Total time: 1 hour, 43 minutes.

The numbers say she did it on grit more than first serves. Zheng landed only 38 percent of her first serves but won 73 percent of those points and 68 percent behind her second serve, per Tennis.com. She converted 4 of 8 break points.

"Finally I once again become the one who is making new history," Zheng said, per the WTA. "Tennis is not just about hitting the balls, it's also about how much you want to win."

A title run that took everything

Zheng needed three sets in each of her first four matches before winning her last three in straight sets. The 78 games she dropped on the way to the title are the most by any player winning a Tier I or WTA 1000 event since 1990, per the WTA. She also became the first wildcard to win the China Open since the event was relaunched in 2004.

The win over Andreeva was her 14th career victory over a top-10 player and her third this year. She also treated the home crowd to some karaoke after her speech, per BBC Sport, which might be the best trophy celebration of the season.

Andreeva still climbs

Andreeva gets a consolation prize. She is projected to rise to No. 3 on Monday, making her the third-youngest player this century to crack the top three for the first time, behind Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters, per the WTA.

"For sure today she played great," Andreeva said. "I think that she's going to be raising her level even more soon."

That is the scary part for the rest of the tour. The Olympic champion has her fire back, she just beat a top-five player for a home title, and she says the best version of herself is still coming.