Zheng Qinwen reaches first China Open final against Andreeva

Beijing's Sunday final is set. Home favourite Zheng Qinwen beat Belgium's Elise Mertens 7-5, 6-2 in Saturday's semifinals to become the first Chinese player ever to reach the China Open final, according to Reuters. Waiting for her is French Open winner Mirra Andreeva, who swept past Nikola Bartunkova in straight sets to set up a rematch of their Beijing quarterfinal from two years ago.

Few runs this season have been as unlikely. The 24-year-old Olympic champion entered Beijing on a wildcard while still rebuilding after an elbow injury, and she arrived ranked outside the top hundred after a difficult year, reported Reuters. Zheng skipped the Cincinnati event in August for a training block in Florida instead. The WTA said that gamble paid off when the former world number four came through qualifying to reach the US Open quarterfinals, and she has kept climbing in Beijing, surviving three-set battles in each of her first four matches of the tournament before beating sixth seed Elina Svitolina in straight sets in the quarterfinals. Friday's quarterfinal against Svitolina, her toughest test of the week, was settled in a second-set tiebreak after Zheng set the tone with an early break, the WTA reported. A China Open final few saw coming is now one match away.

A semifinal settled by nerve

Mertens, the 13th seed, had earned her semifinal spot by beating Iga Swiatek for the first time in her career, and she started aggressively. Zheng broke early to build a 4-2 lead, then let the advantage slip with a run of errors that handed the break straight back. At 6-5 the Chinese player steadied, and a strong crosscourt forehand earned her another break point, which she converted when Mertens netted, Reuters reported. The second set was hers from the start. Flashscore noted that Zheng converted four of her six break-point chances, a clinical returning display that made her the first home finalist in Beijing.

Andreeva's ruthless afternoon

Andreeva, the world number five and fourth seed, needed only 74 minutes to end Bartunkova's run, firing 27 winners while the Czech committed 20 unforced errors, twice as many as the Russian. The unseeded Bartunkova, a rising star who had upset fellow Czech Karolina Muchova to reach the semifinals, simply ran into the form player of the tournament. She had beaten Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarterfinals and arrived in Beijing fresh from qualifying for the WTA Finals for the first time, the WTA reported. After the win she said, in comments reported by Reuters, that she had tried to stay aggressive and brave no matter the score, and that she was pleased with how she played. The victory books her place in the China Open final, her second WTA 1000 final of the year.

A rematch two years in the making

The final carries extra history because the two have met on this court before. Zheng beat Andreeva in the 2024 Beijing quarterfinals, Reuters noted, and Sunday will bring only their second meeting. A China Open final between the home favourite and the French Open winner is the matchup the Beijing crowd wanted, and Zheng is chasing her first WTA 1000 title in front of her home supporters.

The draw itself told the story of an unpredictable week. The WTA noted that the quarterfinalists included only one top-five seed, and the semifinals featured just one player inside the top 15, with a wild card and three players all chasing a first WTA 1000 crown. Zheng and Andreeva survived that chaos to set up a China Open final few brackets predicted.

Whatever happens on Sunday, the week already marks a turning point in Zheng's comeback season. The wildcard entry came as she rebuilt after an elbow injury that had pushed her outside the top hundred, and six straight wins later she stands one victory from the biggest title of her career, in the city where her resurgence began. The final is scheduled for Sunday in Beijing, where the winner lifts the WTA 1000 trophy. Elsewhere in China this week, Hubert Hurkacz beat Novak Djokovic in Shanghai.

Sources: Reuters and WTA Tour.