China’s Zheng Qinwen advanced to the semifinals of the China Open WTA 1000 in Beijing with a 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) upset victory over No. 6 seed Elina Svitolina.

In her first tournament since reaching the US Open quarterfinals as a qualifier, Zheng continued her strong late-season run, winning 12 of her last 13 matches on tour.

Zheng opened the match with a break of serve to take a 2-0 lead and broke twice more to claim the first set 6-3. The second set was much closer, with neither player dropping serve, forcing a tiebreak. Zheng converted her second match point to complete the victory in 1 hour, 47 minutes.

Look what it means 💪 Zheng Qinwen secures a spot in the semifinal in Beijing! That reaction 🤩 #ChinaOpen https://t.co/yTQQn23rub

— wta (@WTA) October 9, 2026

“It was a really great win for me,” Zheng told the media after the match. “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. I finish with really good winners.”

Eight of Zheng’s 12 recent victories have come in three sets. She credited the hard work during a training block she put in before the US Open for her recent success.

“What I did in that training block is still unforgettable,” she said. “I’ve been facing a lot of tough physical conditions. Not only the weather, the training, but mentally. I needed that training block. I need to accept when the coach, they are hard to me on court. I remember Pere, he say to me,

“Right now you are just 140 in the ranking. So now you need to listen to me more on court because you are not the top 10 you were. I was really angry inside. But I have to calm down and say yes, that’s the reality. Seems like the effort pays off. Honestly, I didn’t expect that, all this coming, because I’m just really focused on the present.”

The victory took Zheng to her fourth career WTA 1000 semifinal and her third on Chinese soil, following appearances in Beijing and Wuhan in 2024. The former world No. 4 is projected to return to the top 40 in the WTA PIF Rankings after falling to No. 160 in June.

Zheng has become the third wild-card entry to reach the semifinals, following Shuai Peng in 2006 and Qiang Wang in 2018. She is also the third Chinese player to reach the tournament’s semifinals more than once, after Li Na and Peng.

Zheng will face the winner of the quarterfinal between No. 8 seed Swiatek and No. 13 seed Elise Mertens. The 24-year-old won her only previous meeting with Mertens and holds a 2-7 record against Swiatek.

“I think those important two matches I beat [Swiatek] is because I was more consistent” Zheng said. “I remember those matches when I lost against her, it’s because she’s more consistent than me. We were really close. We face each other lot of times. Doesn’t matter who I face. I’m sure if they arrive to semifinal, they will show up with their best tennis. I’m just going to stay there and play my tennis and let’s see what’s going to happen.”