Andreeva leaves China Open on a high

Mirra Andreeva may have missed out on the trophy, but she still made history. 

Andreeva fell 7-5, 6-4 to Zheng Qinwen in Sunday’s final on Diamond Court, but her week in Beijing was remarkable. In the span of just three days, the 19-year-old clinched her spot at the WTA Finals, climbed to a career-high No. 3 in the world rankings and reached the China Open final. The trophy eluded the reigning French Open champion, but her breakthrough week marked another milestone in a season that keeps getting bigger.

“I think overall, of course, it was a good tournament,” Andreeva said. “I mean, a lot of positives to take from these two weeks. Of course, I felt like today just wasn’t meant to be.”

By defeating Nikola Bartunkova in the semifinals on Saturday, Andreeva became the youngest China Open finalist since 2007. 

Andreeva also qualified for her first WTA singles final on Friday, joining other powerhouses like world No. 1 Elena Rybakina, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova in the season-ending tournament.

Up next for Andreeva is a 1,100-kilometer trip south to the Wuhan Open, where she will have a bye in the first round of the WTA 1000s event. 

Wuhan gives Andreeva another chance to score her four title in 2026. Currently, her three titles (Roland Garros, Linz, Adelaide) make her one of the leading title winners on Tour, tied with Rybakina (Australian Open, U.S. Open, Stuttgart) and Sabalenka (Indian Wells, Miami Open, Brisbane International).

This season has been a record-breaking year for Andreeva overall. 

In January, she took the Adelaide International tournament by storm, claiming her fourth career singles title and her first title of the year without dropping a set.

Three months later, she hoisted her second trophy of the season at Linz. 

Seeded eighth at Roland Garros in the spring, Andreeva won her first Grand Slam title, becoming the youngest French Open winner since 1992. 

The only prior meeting between Andreeva and Zheng was in Beijing in 2024, where the two faced off in the China Open quarterfinals. Zheng pulled out the three-set victory, 5-7, 6-0, 6-4, in 2 hours and 32 minutes. 

This year, history repeated itself, and Zheng prevailed again. 

The hard-fought match was a rollercoaster for Andreeva, who broke early to claim a 2-0 lead and nearly took the opening set after leading 5-4. However, Andreeva conceded three set points to keep Zheng alive for the eventual victory.

“I remember those three set points that I had,” Andreeva said. “The first set point, I think she served on the T, a great serve. I returned not so good. … Then I put a lob. She finished with a smash. Not much I could do.”

Andreeva credited her lack of risk-taking and aggression for her losses on the following set points. 

“If I look at that, if I try to bring that back, maybe I would do something different to try to change the outcome,” Andreeva said. “Now it is what it is. The only thing I can do is to try to do something different on the next match that I have.”

By Isabel Kirkwood