A total of six Chinese women — two seeded players and four wild cards — will play in Round 2 in the singles competition at the 2025 China Open. The number is one higher than last year, when Qinwen Zheng become the fifth Chinese woman to make the singles tournament semifinals and the first since 2018. A Chinese player has yet to make it to the final.
The two Chinese seeded players both received byes for the first round. No. 7 seed Qinwen Zheng is scheduled to play her first match since undergoing elbow surgery in July against lucky loser Emiliana Arango of Colombia. Zheng won both their previous matches, most recently in May in the second round at Roland Garros. Meanwhile, No. 31 seed Xinyu Wang begins her play in a second-round match against compatriot Shuai Zhang, who entered the tournament as a wild card.
Here is a roundup of the Chinese players’ results from the first round.
ADVANCED: Yue Yuan
World No. 110 Yue Yuan celebrated her 27th birthday with a 6-3, 6-3 upset over World No. 63 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan on Thursday. Backed by a raucous Diamond Court crowd, wild card Yuan outplayed the veteran Putintseva, who was making her eighth main-draw appearance in Beijing and previously reached the third round three times.
Putintseva, who had lost seven of her previous eight tour matches, held serve in the opening game despite a two-minute delay caused by fans cheering as she lined up her service motion. In the second game, she failed to convert two break points in a marathon, 16-point ordeal, allowing Yuan to hold serve. At 2-2 in the set, Yuan seized momentum by breaking Putintseva at love. With a 5-3 lead, she broke again, prompting a visibly frustrated Putintseva to nearly slam her racket. In the second set, Yuan broke at love in the eighth game for a 5-3 advantage and closed out the match in the next game after a close call went her way on review.
Yuan dominated the key stats: She struck four aces and no double faults, saved all six break points she faced, and converted all three of her break opportunities. By contrast, Putintseva had zero aces, five double faults, and went 0-for-3 on break points.
This is Yuan’s third China Open appearance. She will face No. 1 seed and 2023 China Open champion Iga Swiatek in the second round.
— Reporting by Coby Spratte
ADVANCED: Xiyu Wang
EXITED: Hanyu Guo
World No. 152 Xiyu Wang earned her first career win at the China Open. She advanced to Round 2 after a 7-5, 6-1 win over fellow Chinese wild card, World No. 192 Hanyu Guo on the Lotus Court. Last year Wang was eliminated in the first round by Alycia Parks.
Wang exchanged service breaks with Guo in Games 1 and 4, keeping the set close. They both then held serve until Game 10. Wang broke Guo’s serve again in Game 11 and sealed the set by holding her own serve in Game 12.
Wang and Guo exchanged breaks to open the second set, but it would be the only game Guo would win in the set. Wang rebounded by winning the next five games to win the match.
Winning three separate games to love during the course of the match contributed to Wang’s win, as did making the most of her break point opportunities. She capitalized on six of her seven chances while Guo was only able to win two of her five.
Wang spoke in a post-match press conference about her growth over multiple years playing at the China Open.
“I think on the WTA Tour, no matter which round you are in, people are putting 100 percent in,” she said. “These are all very challenging and tough matches. It could be a two-set, three-set match. Slowly I'm gaining experience and I'm trying to implement what I've learned in previous matches on court. This is a really long process.”
In Round 2 Wang will face No. 26 seed Linda Noskova, whom she last played in 2024, losing in straight sets. Wang holds a 2-1 record against Noskova, the World No. 27 from the Czech Republic.
“She is a very aggressive player,” Wang said of Noskova. “That’s why I need to be fast, I need to prepare and adjust on court, and try my best for each point.”
–Reporting by Dane Vogel
ADVANCED: Lin Zhu
World No. 253 Lin Zhu, playing as a wild card, defeated Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima 6-1, 6-3 in the first round on the Diamond Court. Zhu capitalized on five of her 10 break-point opportunities and kept control of the match from start to finish. The standout stat of the afternoon was Zhu’s serving efficiency as she landed 54 of 58 first serves (93%), putting constant pressure on Uchijima in nearly every return game.
In the opening set, Zhu took a swift 3-0 game lead after Uchijima double-faulted at the end of her first service game. From then on, the Chinese veteran never looked back, holding serve comfortably and breaking again in the sixth game before closing the set 6-1.
The second set appeared tighter on paper but a different story was told on the court. The most competitive game came at 2-2, when Uchijima fought through six deuces before finally holding serve. But even in that stretch, Zhu was extremely impressive with her defense. Her ability to track down powerful groundstrokes, mixing in slices and lobs, and throwing herself around the court to keep rallies alive was outstanding. At 31 years old, she forced her younger opponent to grind for almost every single point, playing almost like a brick wall. After a long fifth game, Zhu took complete control. She won the final four games to close the set 6-3, assisted by three late double faults from Uchijima, including one on match point.
The win marked Zhu’s fifth tour-level win of the year, as she has only played 12 singles matches in 2025 due to an injury at Wimbledon in 2024. Both players came into the contest with a sub-.500 record on hard courts this season, but Zhu’s consistency in long rallies proved to be decisive.
“I’m really happy with the result. I was able to find my rhythm,” Zhu said in her post-match press conference. Having missed last year’s China Open due to her injury, she added, “It’s a special tournament for me. I’m really happy I was able to play this year in Beijing.”
Zhu will face 18-year-old No. 4 seed Mirra Andreeva on Saturday.
— Reporting by Connor Greene
ADVANCED: Shuai Zhang
Chinese wild card Shuai Zhang advanced to Round 2 in the 2025 China Open after defeating Anastasia Zakharova 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, on the Diamond Court on Wednesday night.
Zhang snapped a career-long 24-game losing streak at last year's China Open and made it to the quarter finals, where she lost to Paula Badosa. Since that tournament she was 25-15 in singles matches.
Wednesday’s match started with Zakharova breaking Zhang’s serve twice to bring the score to 3-0. The two players each held serve for the remainder of the set.
Zhang answered by dominating the second set, with the crowd cheering her on. She won the first four games, breaking Zakharova’s serve in Game 2 after a costly double fault and again in Game 4. The two players traded service breaks in the next two games. Zhang won Game 7 by going up 40-15 with an ace, to the crowd's delight, before winning the set point and forcing a third set.
Each held serve once to start the third set. Zhang broke Zakharova’s serve to win Game 3 to love, and then pulled further ahead by holding her own serve. Zakharova won a tightly contested Game 5 that went to deuce twice. Zhang responded with a timely ace to win Game 6, taking a 4-2 lead. Zakharova won the next two games, to tighten the count to 4-4. A costly double fault by Zakharova in Game 9 helped Zhang break serve, and she was able to hold serve in Game 10 to win the match.
Zhang said in a post-match press conference that she was feeling much more confident in her game compared to last year around this time.
“The next round? To me it's no different compared to any other matches,” she said. “I will do my best. I will try to be myself, to show 100 percent to the crowd.”
Zhang emphasized internal focus: “When I'm on court, I don't see opponents. The only opponent is myself. This is true to sport as well as to my life. If I wake up one day, I do not feel the desire for competition, I don't feel the desire to practice, that's your biggest enemy.”
Zhang will face fellow Chinese player No. 31 seed Xinyu Wang in the second round. The 36-year-old Zhang is 0-3 against her 23-year-old opponent after their last match-up in May at the Parma 125.
“To me, to Xinyu, I wish great success, good performance, breakthroughs, continuously,” Zhang said. “That's the most important thing.”
--Reporting by Dane Vogel
EXITED: Han Shi
World No. 39 McCartney Kessler defeated wild card Han Shi of China 6-2, 7-6(5) on the Diamond Court on Wednesday. Kessler broke Shi’s serve in Games 1 and 3 while holding her own to take a 3-0 lead. Shi returned the favor, breaking Kessler’s serve in Game 4 and holding serve in Game 5, but Kessler then won three straight games and the set. Kessler opened the second set by breaking Shi’s serve again and holding serve in Game 2. The two women held serve the next five games until Shi broke Kessler’s serve in Game 8, evening out the score. Kessler responded by breaking Shi’s serve in Game 9 before having her serve broken in Game 10. Both held serve through Game 11 and 12, taking the set into a tiebreak, which Kessler won.
--Reporting by Dane Vogel
EXITED: Sijia Wei
World No. 183 Sijia Wei was defeated in an hour-long match by World No. 82 Zeynep Sonmez 6-2, 6-0 on the Moon Court on Thursday. This was the third time the players faced one another, with Sonmez winning both previous matches. In the first set, Sonmez took the first two games as Wei showed little ball control, repeatedly sending shots into the net. Regardless, Wei was still able to win two games off Sonmez errors. Sonmez, of Turkey, took the next three games and the set, as Wei hit either too low or past the baseline multiple times. These miscalculations followed her into the second set and were big factors in her defeat. Wei’s double faults in the second set were another component, most notably in Game 3, as she lost the game point to a double fault. This led to a swift win by Sonmez as she won the set at love. This was the Wei’s second appearance in the China Open.
—Reporting by Rebecca Jackson
EXITED: Ruien Zhang
Chinese wild card Ruien Zhang was defeated by Eva Lys 6-1, 6-0 in a 54-minute blowout on the Lotus Court. The German World No. 66 player was calm and collected when she entered the court and quickly won the first game. She continued on to break Zhang's serve twice in the first set. Lys continued to dominate the second set. While World No. 836 Zhang struggled to return balls, Lys was specific in her shot placement and ran Zhang across the baseline, breaking her serve three times in the second set. This was her first meeting with Zhang. "You guys will see more of her," Lys said afterward in regard to her first time facing Zhang.
—Reporting by Mia Fleischer
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