Zheng Qinwen made a successful return to the WTA Tour in front of home fans at the China Open after being sidelined for more than two months following elbow surgery.
The World No. 9 defeated lucky loser Emiliana Arango of Colombia 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday to advance to the third round in Beijing. It was Zheng’s first win since June.
First win since Queen’s Club
Zheng’s victory marked her first win since reaching the semifinals at Queen’s Club in June. Her only tournament appearance since then was at Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round. The Chinese No. 1 opted for surgery to address a right elbow injury that had troubled her for much of the 2025 season and decided to enter Beijing although she is not at her 100% level.
“Actually, China Open wasn’t in our plan because like I said on court, I wasn’t at my 100% still,” ” Zheng said in her post-match press conference. “Like 80%, 70%, but I’m able to compete. The recovery process is very long. At the beginning I healed really fast. Somehow when it comes to the last 20%, somehow it just didn’t get better.
“I checked with my team, and they told me, You don’t have any risk to play matches. It depends on you. I love to play here in China. I made a tough decision to step on the court and see what’s going to happen during the match. So far was pretty good still.”
Dominance over Arango continues
Saturday’s match was Zheng’s third meeting with Arango, and the 22-year-old improved her record to 3-0. Zheng has yet to drop a set against the Colombian, with her previous wins including a straight-sets victory in the second round of this year’s French Open.
Strong record on home soil
The win also continued Zheng’s impressive form at home, where she is a huge crowd favorite. She now holds a 9-3 career record at WTA 1000 events in China, giving her the highest win rate (75%) of any Chinese player since the format began in 2009.
Across all WTA Tour events in China, Zheng has won 17 of 21 matches (81%), the third-highest win rate of any player since 2000, behind Coco Gauff (87.5%) and Aryna Sabalenka (83%). Since the tour returned to China in 2023, Zheng has recorded the most match wins on home soil with 17.
“I’m really happy. I was frustrated missing out on the US Open. Bringing the best performance here tonight, receiving support from the crowd, feeling their passion, I get extra motivation playing under these conditions. Coming here to the China Open really depends on the support of the fans because my team wasn’t really supporting me in playing this tournament. In every training session, I see those fans and I said, I really want to play in front of these people” Zheng told the media after her win.
Noskova awaits in the third round
Next up for Zheng is No. 26 seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic. Zheng has won both of their previous tour-level encounters, including a three-set battle in the third round at Rome in 2024.
“She is a tough player. As far as I know she is really quick. Of course, I need to discuss with my team. She will definitely be a very challenging player,” Zheng said after her win. “It really depends on how much I can recover. I look forward to a better performance. We’ll see what happens. I look forward to more support from the fans.”