Zheng Qinwen enters the China Open women's singles final for the first time, setting the best singles record for Chinese players in the tournament

China News Service, Beijing, October 10 (Reporter Guo Xuan) In the women's singles semi-finals of the 2026 China Tennis Open held in Beijing on the 10th, Chinese player Zheng Qinwen defeated the No. 13 seed and Belgian star Mertens 7:5, 6:2, and advanced to the China Open women's singles final for the first time in his career. Zheng Qinwen is not only the first wild card player to reach the women's singles finals in the history of the China Open, but also the first local player to reach the China Open singles finals.

Zheng Qinwen and Mertens played against each other once in the third round of singles at the Women's Tennis Players Association (WTA) 500 Charleston Station last year. At that time, the Chinese "Golden Flower" won with a big score of 2:1 after three sets.

After the game started, Zheng Qinwen continued his fiery touch since the start of this year's China Open, holding and breaking to take a 4:1 lead. However, his success rate on the first serve declined. Mertens won three consecutive games to chase the score to 4:4. Zheng Qinwen withstood the pressure at the critical moment and achieved a key break at the end of the set, winning the first set 7:5.

In the second set, Zheng Qinwen did not give his opponent a chance to break serve. He not only kept all his serves, but also broke serve twice with his excellent return ability and won 6:2.

This is Zheng Qinwen’s second time reaching the WTA1000 finals after the 2024 Wuhan Tennis Open. She will face No. 4 seed and this year’s French Open women’s singles champion Andreeva in the final on the 11th, who eliminated Czech star Bartongkova in the other semi-final.

"The more games I play, the more relaxed I become and the better I play, because I am the kind of player with a high ceiling, so I need to find my own rhythm at the beginning of the game." Zheng Qinwen said after the game that he played tennis that was both offensive and stable, and hoped to maintain a high level of competition for a long time in the future.

Talking about his opponent Andreeva in the final, Zheng Qinwen said: "She always works hard and is a very stable player. But I am also very tenacious. Tomorrow will be a tough battle. We just need to play to our own level and wait and see."

The Chinese Army has a double happiness in one day. In the women's doubles semifinals, 37-year-old veteran Zhang Shuai partnered with Czech player Siniakova. As the top seed in women's doubles, they defeated Rutliff/Sugadi 6:4, 6:2 and advanced to the final. (over)