Qinwen Zheng opened in Beijing with a victory, sitting at No. 54 in the WTA rankings according to rank.tennis. Her Beijing result and ranking movement are currently heading in different directions: the first round has been cleared, but her current position is lower than her previous No. 52.
The Beijing opener required a deciding set
According to api.tennis, in the first round in Beijing on 1 October 2026, Zheng beat Han Shi 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-2. The opening set was decided by a tiebreak, the next went to her opponent, and in the decider Zheng produced her biggest games margin of the match.
Before Beijing, Zheng reached the quarterfinals of the US Open. In the fourth round she beat Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-3, and then lost to Elena Rybakina 6-3, 1-6, 4-6. Unlike the meeting with Swiatek, the Beijing opener required a deciding set; unlike the quarterfinal against Rybakina, Zheng won it.
The current position is lower than the previous one, but the live ranking is higher
In the rank.tennis rankings, Zheng is No. 54 with 1083 points, while her previous position was No. 52. At the same time, in the live ranking she sits at No. 51 with 1083 points. It is important here to separate the figures: the current ranking reflects a drop from the previous position, while the live ranking places Zheng above both of those marks.
The Beijing win fits into a season in which Zheng, according to api.tennis, has 19 wins and 14 losses, with no titles and no finals. The quarterfinal at the US Open and the opening-round win in Beijing show the concrete results of this stretch, while the ranking picture remains mixed: No. 54 in the current list and No. 51 in the live ranking.