Zheng Qinwen beats Andreeva to become first Chinese woman to win China Open

Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese woman to win the China Open on Sunday, defeating fourth seed Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-4 in Beijing. According to BBC Sport's report by Coral Barry, the 24-year-old completed her title run after entering the tournament as a wildcard ranked 54th in the world. She had to recover from early deficits in both sets to secure the trophy in front of her home crowd.

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The opening set turned when Zheng resisted three set points. Andreeva, 19, had moved 2-0 ahead and later led 5-4, putting the Chinese player under pressure before the decisive reversal. Zheng survived those chances and took the final 11 points of the set to establish a lead that the Russian was unable to overturn.

Andreeva again went 2-0 up in the second set, but Zheng recovered once more. With the players level at 4-4, mistakes from Andreeva helped Zheng take control of the closing stages. A late double fault briefly interrupted her progress, but she finished the match with an ace, then dropped to the court in celebration. After her victory speech, she sang for the spectators.

The result delivered Zheng's first WTA 1000 trophy and sixth title overall, ending a two-year title drought. She underwent elbow surgery last year and has faced difficulties with fitness and form over the past 12 months. Speaking after the match, she described winning in Beijing before a home audience as the fulfilment of a dream following a particularly difficult year.

Zheng also told reporters that returning from injury had left her struggling to rediscover how to compete. She said repeated defeats had preceded the recovery of her competitive drive. Sunday's success was her 14th victory over a top-10 opponent and her third such win this season, adding another significant result to the breakthrough at her home tournament.

BBC Sport reported that Zheng was set to climb 31 ranking places to number 23, with her next appearance scheduled for Tuesday at the Wuhan Open. Andreeva was expected to move up to number three when the rankings were updated on Monday despite losing the final. Both ranking changes remained prospective in the report.