Zheng Qinwen advances to the women's singles final, setting a new personal best record at the China Open

On October 10, Beijing time, in the 2026 China Open women's singles semi-finals, Zheng Qinwen defeated Mertens and advanced to the finals, setting a new personal best record at the China Open.

In the first set, both sides broke each other's serve. In the 12th game, Zheng Qinwen seized the opportunity to break serve and won Mertens 7-5 in the first set, leading the total score 1-0.

In the second set, Zheng Qinwen maintained his form, 6-2 Mertens, and finally defeated his opponent with a total score of 2-0 and advanced to the final.

He faced Mertens, an opponent he had played against once before. Tonight, Zheng Qinwen faces the famous Belgian player Mertens. The two had fought once before.

On April 4, 2025, in the third round of the WTA500 Charleston Station, No. 3 seed Zheng Qinwen defeated No. 13 seed Mertens, winning 13 consecutive clay court victories across the season and locking in the quarterfinals.

Mertens performed brilliantly at the China Open this time. In the quarter-finals, Mertens defeated Poland's 6-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek for the first time, reached the China Open women's singles semi-finals for the first time, and reached the top four of the 1000 women's singles again after 5 years. In addition, she also eliminated Gauff and Ostapenko, winning three consecutive Grand Slam champions in a single event for the first time.

At this China Open, Zheng Qinwen won multiple three-set matches in a row, showing great resilience.

In the first round, she fought hard for 2 hours and 44 minutes, defeating the Chinese player Shi Han who broke through the qualifying round 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-2;

In the second round, she faced the No. 15 seed, Kalinskaya of Russia. She lost the tiebreak 4-7 in the first set, but fought back 6-4 in the second set. When leading 3-0 in the final set, her opponent retired due to injury. Zheng Qinwen won the 50th WTA1000 main draw match in his career.

In the third round, she fought fiercely for nearly three hours and defeated the 18th seed, Czech player Buzkova 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-5.

In the fourth round, against the "biggest dark horse" of this tournament, Armenian player Chalayeva, Zheng Qinwen defeated her opponent 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 and reached the top eight of the 1000 event for the tenth time in her career.

In the fifth round, Zheng Qinwen defeated the No. 6 seed and Ukrainian star Svitolina in straight sets, advancing to the semi-finals. He returned to the China Open semi-finals after two years, tied his best record at the China Open, and won his first victory at the age of 24.

After defeating Smeltens today, Zheng Qinwen set a new personal best record at the China Open. Zheng Qinwen’s China Open journey is still going on. I look forward to her giving it a try in the finals and launching an attack on the championship!