Zheng Qinwen Becomes the First Chinese Finalist in China Open History
Zheng Qinwen beat Belgium's Elise Mertens 7-5, 6-2 in Beijing on Saturday night to reach the China Open final — a round no Chinese player, man or woman, had ever reached at the tournament. On Sunday she plays Russia's Mirra Andreeva for the title.
Five days after beating Svitolina in straight sets to reach the semifinals, Zheng Qinwen has gone one better at her home tournament. On Saturday night at the China Open in Beijing, the 24-year-old Olympic champion beat Belgium's Elise Mertens, the 13th seed, 7-5, 6-2 to become the first Chinese player — man or woman — to reach a singles final in the event's history. Li Na, Wang Qiang and Bu Yunchaokete had all made the semifinals here over the years; none went further. A post announcing the result passed 10,000 likes within the hour, and the WTA's own account called it another piece of tournament history.
It has been a rebuild year. Zheng's live ranking has slipped to No. 28, far from the top-five range that followed her 2024 Olympic gold in Paris, and she has been careful about declaring the comeback complete. She told reporters after the semifinal: "I played well today. I can't say my form is all the way back, but I am playing better and better. The best version of me is now, and in the future — everyone go home and rest early." In Beijing she has thirteen wins from her past fourteen matches, most of them in straight sets.
The match also produced the moment the Chinese internet replayed most. Serving at 4-3 in the first set, Zheng missed an overhead she would normally put away as talk carried over from the stands; at the next break she turned to the crowd and asked, evenly: "Please don't talk — thank you" (不要说话，谢谢). The clip spread within minutes and reopened the argument Sun Yingsha started with her own request for quiet at the China Smash last week: a sport whose first rule is silence during points, played in arenas that are still teaching new audiences when to cheer and when to hold their breath.
In Sunday's final she will meet Mirra Andreeva, the Russian fourth seed. The two have met once, in the 2024 China Open quarterfinal, where Zheng came back from a set down to win 5-7, 6-0, 6-4. Fan accounts passing around broadcast figures claimed her semifinal topped China's television ratings for the night. A win on Sunday would give Zheng a first home title at the China Open — and make her the first home champion the tournament has ever had.