Zheng Qinwen is an Olympic champion, a former world No. 4, a 2024 Australian Open finalist and, since October 11, 2026, the first Chinese woman to win the China Open in Beijing. She is also the player who celebrates big titles by picking up a microphone and singing to the crowd. This guide covers her story, and Pundit Feed’s view of what her record says about the next stage of her career: she has become one of the hardest players on tour to put away, but her Grand Slam ambitions still run into two specific obstacles.
Zheng Qinwen at a glance
| Born | October 8, 2002, Shiyan, Hubei province, China |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Plays | Right-handed, two-handed backhand |
| Training base | Barcelona, Spain |
| Coach | Pere Riba |
| Career-high ranking | No. 4 (June 2025) |
| Ranking after Beijing | No. 23 (October 12, 2026) |
| Biggest titles | Olympic gold (Paris 2024), China Open (Beijing 2026) |
| Best Grand Slam result | Australian Open runner-up, 2024 |
Biographical details from her Wikipedia profile; ranking from the WTA.
From Shiyan to Barcelona
Zheng took up tennis at seven and moved to Wuhan as a child for better coaching, with her mother eventually leaving her job to support her training. She later trained at a Beijing academy run by Carlos Rodriguez, the coach who guided Justine Henin and Li Na, before moving her base to Barcelona in late 2019. As a junior she lost the 2018 Orange Bowl final to Coco Gauff in three sets. She has named Li Na, the first Asian player to win a Grand Slam singles title, as her inspiration.
The rise, 2022 to 2024
Zheng was named WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2022 after reaching the fourth round of the French Open and the final of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. In 2023 she won her first WTA Tour titles in Palermo and Zhengzhou, reached her first major quarterfinal at the US Open and was named the WTA’s Most Improved Player.
In 2024 she reached the Australian Open final, losing 6-3, 6-2 to Aryna Sabalenka, broke into the top 10 and finished the season as runner-up to Coco Gauff at the WTA Finals. The high point came in Paris. At the Olympics she beat world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals at Roland Garros and then Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 for gold on August 3, 2024. According to the WTA, citing the ITF, she was the first Chinese player to win Olympic singles gold, and it was China’s first Olympic tennis gold since Li Ting and Sun Tiantian won the women’s doubles in 2004.
Surgery and the fall to No. 160
Zheng reached her career high of No. 4 in June 2025, then had surgery on her right elbow in July after months of pain. She came back too early, retiring in the third round in Beijing in 2025, and did not play again until Doha in February 2026. “I did not expect it to be as long as six months,” she told the WTA. Her ranking fell to No. 160 in mid-June, and the low point was a first-round qualifying defeat in Toronto.
She credits Pere Riba, who put her through a demanding training block before the US Open. “He saved me from the lowest moment when I lost that qualifying match in Toronto,” she said. She has also admitted she had been too proud to take hard advice, believing she knew more than her coach.
Pundit Feed’s view: the comeback is the weapon
What stands out in Zheng’s recent results is not one big shot. It is how often she has won from positions where most players lose.
- At the 2026 US Open, as a qualifier, she came back to win the deciding set against Madison Keys, then trailed Swiatek 0-5 in the first set and won 7-5, 6-3, IANS reported. “I guess coming back from 0-5 on Saturday was not lucky,” she said.
- In Beijing she won her first four matches in three sets and dropped 78 games across seven matches, the most by any champion at a Tier I or WTA 1000 event since 1990, according to Tennis Majors.
- In the final she trailed Mirra Andreeva 5-4, saved three set points and won the last 11 points of the set, as BBC Sport reported.
That record is not luck. Her serve gives her a way back into sets: she closed out the Beijing final with an ace and hit 243 winners over the week, the most by any player at a tour-level event this season, according to the WTA. In our reading, those numbers suggest a player who keeps hitting through bad patches rather than retreating. “Tennis is not just about hitting the balls, it’s also about how much you want to win,” she told the Global Times. To the WTA, she described the change in her own words: “I finally felt that the pressure doesn’t handle me anymore. I handle the pressure.”
History in Beijing
Ranked No. 54 and playing on a wildcard, Zheng beat Andreeva 7-5, 6-4 for her first WTA 1000 title, the sixth title of her career and her first in two years. She was the first Chinese player to win the event since its relaunch in 2004, and its first wildcard and lowest-ranked champion. The result lifted her 31 places to No. 23. Our report on the final has the match in detail, and our guide to how tennis rankings work explains how one week can move a player that far.
“The feeling was incredible. To win here in Beijing in front of my home crowd is one of my dreams,” she told BBC Sport.
Why she sings after she wins
After her speech in Beijing, Zheng took the microphone and sang to the crowd. TennisUpToDate reported that she chose the theme song of a cartoon she watched as a child. Tennis Majors noted she had done the same after winning Zhengzhou in 2023. Singing is one of the hobbies she lists away from the court, along with reading and walking with her family.
Pundit Feed’s view: the two obstacles to a first major
Her Grand Slam record, as listed in her career statistics, points to two clear problems rather than general inconsistency.
Aryna Sabalenka. Four of Zheng’s five deepest Grand Slam runs ended against Sabalenka: the 2023 US Open quarterfinal, the 2024 Australian Open final, the 2024 US Open quarterfinal and the 2025 French Open quarterfinal. Zheng did not win a set in any of those four matches, and the two US Open meetings finished 6-1, 6-4 and 6-1, 6-2 to Sabalenka. Her only win in their six listed meetings came on clay, in the Rome quarterfinals in 2025. Our reading is that this is a matchup problem rather than bad luck with draws: Zheng’s game depends on hitting first, and against the one player who consistently out-hits her on hard courts, she has had no second plan.
Grass. Zheng has lost in the first round at Wimbledon in each of the last four years, and has never gone past the third round there. Every one of her Grand Slam quarterfinals has come on hard courts or clay.
The Australian Open in January is therefore the major where her chances look strongest: it is on hard courts, she has reached a final there, and her return to No. 23 should put her back among the seeds. Whether she can win one depends less on her form than on whether she finds an answer to Sabalenka. Next up is the Wuhan Open, in the city where she trained as a child. “I’m so hungry, honestly, for what’s going to come next,” she told BBC Sport.
Frequently asked questions
How old is Zheng Qinwen?
She was born on October 8, 2002, so she turned 24 in October 2026.
Has Zheng Qinwen won a Grand Slam?
Not yet. Her best result is the 2024 Australian Open final, which she lost to Aryna Sabalenka. She has also reached quarterfinals at the French Open and US Open.
What is Zheng Qinwen’s highest ranking?
No. 4, reached in June 2025.
Did Zheng Qinwen win Olympic gold?
Yes, at Paris 2024, beating Donna Vekic in the final. She was the first Chinese player to win Olympic singles gold in tennis.
Who coaches Zheng Qinwen?
Pere Riba, a former Spanish player who began working with her in 2021, apart from a short spell in 2023 when Wim Fissette took over.
Why does Zheng Qinwen sing after matches?
Singing is one of her hobbies, and she has made karaoke part of her title celebrations, in Zhengzhou in 2023 and in Beijing in 2026.
Sources: BBC Sport, WTA, ITF, Tennis Majors, TennisUpToDate, IANS, Global Times.
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