Qinwen Zheng was made to do karaoke in the middle of the court after lifting her first WTA 1000 title at the China Open. The world No. 54 became the first home player to reach the singles final in Beijing, and went one better as she beat fourth seed Mirra Andreeva 7-5 6-4 to claim the trophy.
Comeback after surgery
It’s been a tough year for Zheng, a former world No. 4 who dropped out of the top 160 earlier this year as she struggled to find form after coming back from elbow surgery. But the Chinese star has stepped it up in recent weeks.
She had to go through qualifying to reach the main draw at the recent US Open, but she stormed through the preliminary rounds and then made it all the way to the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champion Elena Rybakina.
Victory over Andreeva
Playing on home soil in Beijing, Zheng beat four seeded players on her way to Sunday’s final. The world No. 54 saved three set points at 4-5 in the opening set, and then broke in the very next game. She went on to claim a straight-sets victory over French Open finalist Andreeva, who will crack the world’s top three when the rankings update tomorrow.
Afterwards, Zheng congratulated her opponent and thanked her team before being asked to mark her historic victory in a very unusual way.
