Qinwen Zheng defeated Elise Mertens 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinal of the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing to reach the final. The match was played on hard court, and the tournament has a prize fund of $9.4 million.
Tight first set, comfortable second
The first set was closely contested, with Mertens losing just two games. The gap widened to four games in the second, and the Chinese player completed the two-set win.
Her opponent was ranked higher: Mertens, the 13th seed, is ranked 14th and has 2540 points. Zheng is ranked 28th with 1668 points.
It was the players’ second meeting, and Zheng has won both. In 2025, she won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Zheng reached the semifinal via Han Shi (7-6(6), 4-6, 6-2), Anna Kalinskaya (6-7(4), 6-4, 3-0), Maria Bouzkova (7-6(3), 4-6, 7-5), Aлина Charaeva (6-1, 2-6, 6-4) and Elina Svitolina (6-3, 7-6(6)). Mertens began with a win over Katie Volynets (6-0, 4-6, 7-5), then beat Jelena Ostapenko (6-2, 3-6, 6-3), Coco Gauff (6-3, 6-3) and Iga Swiatek (7-6(0), 6-3).