Heraldo de Madrid - Resurgent Zheng charges into China Open final with Andreeva

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.

Zheng, a former world number four, had struggled with her form since needing elbow surgery in 2025 and is a wildcard entry in Beijing.

"I had a great performance tonight," Zheng told the crowd afterwards.

But, she added: "I would not say I'm back. I would say the best version of me is still coming in the future."

Zheng dropped just three points as she eased into a 3-0 lead, punching winners into the corner with searing accuracy.

Her game faltered afterwards as she needed to warn the crowd to "stop speaking" before Mertens leveled to 4-4, but held her nerve to win the first set on the first time of asking.

She carried that momentum into a dominant second set, closing out the match with 43 winners across the one-hour-and-a-half affair.

Earlier, Russian teenager Andreeva snagged the first spot in the final, brushing aside Nikola Bartunkova 6-2, 6-2.

"I wanted to play aggressive today," said the 19-year-old, ranked five in the world.

Andreeva raced into a 4-0 lead in the first set as 34th-ranked Bartunkova double-faulted twice before giving away the fourth game.

The 20-year-old Czech made 20 unforced errors across the 74-minute match and was outplayed by the French Open champion, who sent down 27 winners.

Bartunkova saved the first match point but Andreeva triumphed on the second without much more fuss.

"She's a very tricky opponent to play against... she sometimes manages to hit rockets out of nowhere," Andreeva said.

"I tried to be brave no matter what," she said, adding that she calmed some nerves by playing the card game Uno with her coach before the semi-final.

At four, Andreeva was the highest-seeded player left in the tournament by the quarter-finals after a run of upsets saw the departures of Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff.

M.Soler--HdM