Resurgent Zheng downs Mertens to storm into China Open final, Andreeva awaits

[p]It is another step in the Olympic gold medallist's injury comeback, following a gritty showing at last month's US Open where she reached the quarter-finals.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zheng-qinwen/xCyEhjAS/"]Zheng[/a], a former world number four, had struggled with her form since needing elbow surgery in 2025 and is a wildcard entry in Beijing.[/p][p][b]"I had a great performance tonight,"[/b] Zheng told the crowd afterwards.[/p][p]But she added: [b]"I would not say I'm back. I would say the best version of me is still coming in the future."[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="7ed09695-1f40-4bf6-8238-65c748836edc" credit-line="Flashscore" hidden-attrs="alt, credit" guid="196a6f44-0428-4de9-86f6-6985676d9cac" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]Zheng dropped just three points as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/mertens-e-Y1ZrrUtl/zheng-q-xCyEhjAS/?mid=vebJGCxJ"]she eased into a 3-0 lead[/a], punching winners into the corner with searing accuracy.[/p][p]Her game faltered afterwards as she needed to warn the crowd to "stop speaking" before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mertens-elise/Y1ZrrUtl/"]Mertens[/a] levelled to 4-4, but held her nerve to win the first set on the first time of asking.[/p][p]She carried that momentum into a dominant second set, closing out the match with 43 winners across the one-hour-and-a-half affair.[/p][embed guid="fabf885d-611f-4a26-90f4-2d22c6792a01" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22pyy0S0S3s" social-type="youtube" /][p]Earlier, Russian teenager [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/andreeva-mirra/lI6fOOat/"]Andreeva[/a] snagged the first spot in the final, brushing aside [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bartunkova-nikola/84ILHaZ4/"]Nikola Bartunkova[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/andreeva-m-lI6fOOat/bartunkova-n-84ILHaZ4/?mid=fkiJMkQH"]6-2, 6-2[/a].[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/andreeva-m-lI6fOOat/zheng-q-xCyEhjAS/?mid=4zaXSjTk"]Follow the China Open final with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]