Qinwen Zheng knocked off No. 6 seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-6(8-6) on Friday in Beijing, advancing to the semifinals at the 2026 China Open for just the second time in her career. Entering as a wildcard, the former world No. 4 needed just one hour and 47 minutes to take down one of the tournament's top seeds.
Zheng & Svitolina Need Tiebreak to Decide Beijing Quarterfinal
Zheng controlled the opener from the baseline, breaking Svitolina twice to claim the first set. But that momentum stalled in the second set. Both players went point for point, holding serve through 12 games before a tense tiebreak, with Zheng needing two match points to finish it.
With the result, Zheng scored her 12th victory in 13 WTA matches this fall. That run is projected to push her back into the Top 40 after she dropped as low as No. 160 earlier this year.
She's now just the third wildcard entrant to reach this stage at the China Open, following Peng Shuai (2006) and Wang Qiang (2018).
"It was a really great win for me," Zheng said. "I think she also play her best tennis. I'm just happy to have lot of winners during the match, and at the end, be brave in important moment."
Up next, she faces No. 13 seed Elise Mertens, who upset eighth-seeded Iga Świątek in their quarterfinal match on Friday.
