WATCH: Qinwen Zheng breaks into a song as she celebrates her maiden WTA-500 title defeating Barbora Krejcikova in Zhengzhou

Zheng follows up her gold medal win in Asian Games with her first WTA 500 title.

WATCH: Qinwen Zheng breaks into a song as she celebrates her maiden WTA-500 title defeating Barbora Krejcikova in Zhengzhou

Qinwen Zheng singing (Via WTA/X)

Home crowd favorite and Chinese No.1 Qinwen Zheng stunned 7th seed Barbara Krejcikova to win the 7th edition of WTA 500 Zhengzhou Open. The World No.19 defeated the Czech pro 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in 2 hours and 26 minutes to lift her first WTA 500 title and second career title.

Zheng was strong on her serve as she won 73% points on her 1st serve, hitting 10 aces. “When I was on the court finishing the last point, I was feeling super happy,” Zheng said, after her win. “All the crowd yelling for me, they supported me in full, in that moment, the feeling was unexplainable,” she added.

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The 21-year-old celebrated her win in a stunning fashion as she broke into an unexpected but melodious rendition of a Chinese song during the trophy presentation ceremony.

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Zheng arrived into the tournament on the back of winning a gold medal in women’s singles at the 2023 Asian Games held in Hangzhou. In a quick turnaround, the Chinese pro faced 5th seed Elena Rybakina in the first round of the China Open after 2 days of rest, suffering a straight-sets defeat. Before that, Zheng achieved her highest Grand Slam finish at the 2023 US Open. She was defeated in the quarter final by the world No.1 and eventual runner-up Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets.

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Qinwen Zheng thanks home crowd for strong support after her final win

“That was such a special experience, to win my 1st 500 in China. Especially in Zhengzhou. I want to thank the crowd for supporting me tonight. It was an amazing atmosphere. Thanks to my team. I can’t do it without all of you. You guys really support me in the tough moments,” Zheng said after winning her second title of the season.

Qinwen Zheng
Qinwen Zheng with the 2023 Zhengzhou Open trophy (Credit: Eurosport)

With the win, Zheng became just the third Chinese women’s tennis player to win a WTA 500 or WTA 1000 singles’ title, after 2-time Grand Slam singles champion Li Na and Zheng Saisai.

 Zheng, last season’s WTA Newcomer of the Year, picked up her first title earlier this year at the 2023 Internazionali Femminili di Palermo. 

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