Zheng Qinwen beats Andreeva for historic Beijing title
Zheng Qinwen beat Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-4 to win the China Open in Beijing.
It is history. Zheng is the first Chinese woman to win the home tournament, and it is her first WTA 1000 title, the regular tour events that sit one rung below the four Grand Slams WTA BBC.
She did it in straight sets. No tiebreaks. No third set. Two sets, both tight, both taken.
Andreeva came in as the No. 4 seed, the seeding that protects the top players from meeting early, and as a French Open winner. She had reached the final in ruthless form, beating Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6(4), 7-6(3) in the quarter-finals and then Nikola Bartunkova 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-finals.
That semi-final was her 50th tour-level win of the season and put her into a fifth final of 2026. It had also left her set to become World No. 3 WTA.
Zheng took a different road. She beat Elise Mertens 7-5, 6-2 to reach the final, becoming the first player from China to reach the singles final in Beijing China Open.
The 23-year-old is an Olympic champion and a former World No. 4. She had fallen outside the Top 100 after an elbow injury, according to Yahoo Sports Yahoo Sports.
What makes this stand out is the timing. Zheng arrived short on ranking and long on expectation, with a home crowd willing her on. Andreeva arrived with the numbers, the seed and the season behind her. The scoreline says Zheng handled that balance better on the day.
