Zheng Qinwen (born 8 October 2002) is a professional tennis player from China. She won the women’s singles gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, becoming the first Chinese player to win an Olympic singles tennis title. She was also the runner-up at the 2024 Australian Open and the 2024 WTA Finals. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 4, first reached on 16 June 2025. (wtatennis.com)
Background and entry into professional tennis
Zheng was born in Shiyan, Hubei Province. She plays right-handed and has used Barcelona, Spain, as a training base. Her parents encouraged her to try several sports during childhood, including table tennis. (wtatennis.com)
She began competing in International Tennis Federation events in 2018 and entered Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) qualifying tournaments in 2019. Her first WTA main-draw appearance came at Palermo in 2021, where she qualified and reached the second round. (wtatennis.com)
Rise on the WTA Tour
In 2022, Zheng entered the world’s top 100 and reached the fourth round of the French Open. She also won the WTA 125 tournament in Valencia and reached her first tour-level singles final in Tokyo. The WTA named her its Newcomer of the Year. (wtatennis.com)
Her first WTA Tour singles title came at Palermo in July 2023, when she defeated Jasmine Paolini 6–4, 1–6, 6–1 in the final. Later that season, she won the Zhengzhou title and reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open. She finished the year ranked No. 15 and received the WTA’s Most Improved Player of the Year award. (wtatennis.com)
The 2024 season
Australian Open final
Zheng reached her first Grand Slam singles final at the 2024 Australian Open. She defeated Dayana Yastremska 6–4, 6–4 in the semifinals before losing the championship match to Aryna Sabalenka, 6–3, 6–2. Her run brought her into the world’s top 10 for the first time. (ausopen.com)
Olympic gold medal
The Olympic tennis tournament took place on the clay courts of Roland-Garros in Paris. Zheng saved a match point against Emma Navarro in the fourth round and then defeated Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, she beat world No. 1 Iga Świątek, ending Świątek’s 20-match winning streak on clay. (wtatennis.com)
On 3 August 2024, Zheng defeated Donna Vekić 6–2, 6–3 in the final. The victory secured China’s first Olympic tennis singles gold medal and its second Olympic tennis gold overall, following Li Ting and Sun Tiantian’s women’s doubles title at Athens in 2004. (wtatennis.com)
Tour titles and year-end final
Zheng successfully defended her Palermo title and won the Tokyo tournament in 2024. She also reached the final in Wuhan and qualified for her first WTA Finals. In the latter tournament’s championship match, Coco Gauff defeated her 3–6, 6–4, 7–6(2) after three hours and four minutes. Zheng entered the world’s top five during the season. (wtafiles.wtatennis.com)
Developments in 2025 and 2026
In 2025, Zheng reached the semifinals in Rome and London and the quarterfinals at the French Open. She achieved her career-high ranking of No. 4 in June. An elbow injury interrupted her season; she underwent surgery in July and competed in only one tournament after Wimbledon that year. She subsequently missed the 2026 Australian Open. (wtatennis.com)
On 11 October 2026, Zheng won her first WTA 1000 title at the China Open in Beijing, defeating Mirra Andreeva 7–5, 6–4 in the final. Entering the tournament as a wild card, she became the first Chinese woman to win its singles title. It was her first tournament title since Tokyo in 2024. (wtatennis.com)
References
- Qinwen Zheng | Player Stats & More – WTA Officialwtatennis.com
- Qinwen Zheng | Player | BNP Paribas Openbnpparibasopen.com
- Zheng Qinwen beats Paolini in Palermo to capture first career titlewtatennis.com
- Queen victorious: Zheng to meet Sabalenka in AO 2024 deciderausopen.com
- Sabalenka v Zheng: How the AO 2024 women’s final was decidedausopen.com
- Zheng holds off Vekic in Olympic gold-medal finalwtatennis.com
- 2025 WTA Media Guide: Player Sectionwtafiles.wtatennis.com
- What Zheng Qinwen learned from the year she had to stop and healwtatennis.com
- Zheng Qinwen makes history with China Open win in first title since 2024wtatennis.com