When Mirra Andreeva stepped onto the Diamond Court to face Qinwen Zheng in the China Open final, the Russian youngster had an inkling of what she would get from the fans. Having a home favorite in the final since Chen Li in 1996, the entire arena was packed to voice their support for Zheng. That did not stop the new World No. 3 from being at her cheeky best during the on-court ceremony after she lost in straight sets.
“It was a great week playing in Beijing,” said Andreeva during her on-court speech. “Thanks to everyone who supported me throughout the week. I thought that today maybe I’d hear some ‘Come on, Mirra,’ but no…”
The match started well for Andreeva, as she got an early break to go 2-0 up, but Zheng soon made it 2-2. The crowd cheered on every winning shot from the Chinese player’s racket, while Andreeva got the occasional applause for a good shot. The crowd had plenty of moments to get their teeth into, especially at the end of the first set, when Andreeva had three set points at 5-4.
Zheng saved all three set points with her serve, played aggressive tennis, and came to the net to win points with overhead smashes and well-placed volleys, which brought the roof down. Once the home favorite leveled it at 5-5, there was no stopping her as she won the next two games to win the first set 7-5.
The second set started with an exchange of breaks, but the decisive one came in the ninth game, when Zheng went 5-4 up and had the chance to serve it out. She expertly did that in the next game, converting the match point with a well-hit ace down the line. The crowd erupted after the shot, and the home favorite fell to the ground with emotion.
Zheng’s popularity in China did not happen overnight. The Chinese crowd knows how to support champions from other countries, just ask Novak Djokovic. However, for Zheng, winning the Olympic gold brought her national recognition. Not to mention, the former World No. 4 was building her own comeback narrative, having missed a lot of last year due to an elbow injury. Ranked 160 in June this year, Zheng has now risen to No.23 in the rankings, a remarkable turnaround since she decided to play qualifying at the US Open.
As for Andreeva, this is not the first time she has played in front of a partisan crowd. The Russian did not have a good time when she faced Lois Boisson at Roland Garros last year, as the French crowd disrupted her on-court rhythm. Even though she lost, Andreeva showed much more composure in Beijing than in Paris last year.
Even though she did not win the title, Andreeva achieved a career-best ranking of 3, with a genuine chance of breaking into the Top 2. The 19-year-old is aware of the situation, but claims not to think too much about it.
Mirra Andreeva Is Not Too Hung Up on the No. 1 Ranking
Andreeva leaves Beijing ranked as the No. 3 player in the world, with 6371 points. She’s a little over 1000 points behind Aryna Sabalenka on No.2, while the gap to World No. 1 Elena Rybakina is over 3000 points. When asked, Andreeva admitted to looking at the rankings, but she was adamant about not putting too much focus on them.
“I think I looked and it was like between me and Elena,” said Andreeva in an interview after the final. “I think it was like 3,000 points. So, it’s pretty big. So, I don’t know like what you guys are talking about, but you know, um that’s okay. I think I’ll just try not to even focus on rankings and just try to focus on every match that I have ahead.”
With Rybakina having pulled out of Wuhan and Sabalenka struggling with her form of late, Andreeva could move closer to the Top-2 if she has a decent run in Wuhan. She has gotten a bye in the first round and is slated to face either Cristina Bucsa or Dayana Yastremska.
Even if she does not get the No.1 ranking by this year’s end, 2026 has been the best year of Andreeva’s career, with the Russian winning her maiden Major title in Paris, along with qualifying for the WTA Finals for the first time.