Tennis ace Zheng Qinwen advances to the third round of the China Open

Chinese tennis star Zheng Qinwen defeated 71st-seeded Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia 6-1, 6-1 in 75 minutes in the women’s second round at the China Open in Beijing, September 28, 2024. Photo: Cui Meng/GT

Chinese tennis star Zheng Qinwen defeated 71st-seeded Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia 6-1, 6-1 in the second round of her highly anticipated match at the China Open on Saturday.

The match attracted more than 12,000 fans to the Diamond Court at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, which has a capacity of 15,000.

Making her debut at this year’s China Open thanks to a first-round bye as the fifth seed, Zheng said she was pleased with her performance on Saturday after feeling frustrated since the US Open.

“I’m very pleased with today’s overall performance. I always practice with male players during training and I often get misses, which is frustrating, but today’s match went really smoothly. I haven’t played such a close match for a long time, especially since every match at the US Open was difficult,” Zheng said after the match.

“I was surprised to see so many fans in the stadium today and I really appreciate everyone’s support. I hope I can go further in the China Open so that you all can have more opportunities to watch me play.”

Saturday’s match was only Zheng’s second appearance in the tournament after a surprising first-round exit in 2023. Zheng is currently ranked No. 7 in the world, up from No. 23 in the world at the same time in 2023.

Zheng will face 25th seed Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine in the third round.

Zheng expressed a desire to shift the focus away from the overwhelming glow of her Olympic gold medal in the women’s singles and instead focus on WTA Tour tournaments as her goal for the rest of the season is clear: to secure a spot in the WTA Finals table at the end of the year.

Zheng is currently in 9th place in the race to the finals, ahead of American players Emma Navarro and Danielle Collins by 498 and 108 points, respectively.

Zheng’s fight in the final became easier ahead of Saturday’s match when his compatriot and veteran Zhang Shuai defeated Navarro on Friday in the first round.