'The 5th Grand Slam:' Zheng embraces the home-crowd pressure of Beijing

BEIJING -- When a player gets to compete in their home country, there's always a special feeling. 

For Zheng Qinwen, it's no different. After a rejuvenating run from qualifying to the US Open quarterfinals, Zheng is ready for another strong result and entertain her home fans at the China Open. But with that home-crowd excitement, there's an added expectation to deliver to her people. 

"I think to play in China is like playing the fifth Grand Slam for me," Zheng said during her pre-tournament press conference in Beijing. "They are the same importance. Of course, I want to performance super well in front of my people.

"I have extra pressure, yes. In the same time I also get extra support from all the fans, so I have nothing to complain."

Zheng, a main draw wild card in Beijing, is hoping to build off that US Open campaign that pushed her ranking from outside the top 120 to No. 52 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. She is scheduled to play her first-round match on Thursday against qualifier Shi Han, also of China.

Prior to New York, she had to play qualifying in Toronto because of her rank at the time, and lost in the first round of that qualifying draw. It marked the first time since January 2023 she had to play qualifiers, and after, she decided to forego the Cincinnati Open and undergo an intense training program that fueled her run in New York. 

However, Zheng isn't one to dwell too much into the past and she's strictly focused on improving her ranking even more.

"Right now for me it's a new tournament, we're in China Open," Zheng said. "I think it's not going to be easy this year because my ranking right now is still 50. I still got lots of matches to go, I still want to win lot of matches."

Zheng wants to prove to the outside -- and to herself -- that she is playing much better than her rank indicates. Had it not been for the elbow surgery that sidelined Zheng and forced her to crawl her way back, who knows where Zheng would be. However, the reality is she's still trying to get back to where she once was, former World No. 4, and possibly do even better. 

"Somehow the surgery stopped my progress, I had to start kind of from zero again," Zheng said. "Ranking right now for me is a number. Of course, it shows what I did in the last one year. I know where I'm capable to be.

"Here is not the place where I deserve. My highest ranking is No. 4, I still believe I could do much better than that. I really want to see what I can bring in the future, and I know deep inside me [I can], but I have to prove it."

Preparations for Beijing have been good, though Zheng admitted she's been dealing with an on-and-off cough, but doesn't expect it to be a big factor.

Last year at the China Open, Zheng played just two matches in what was her first tournament back since the July 2025 elbow surgery. However, she retired in the second match, and didn't play again until Doha in February.

Zheng admitted she felt rushed and was eager to play matches, and though she had doctoral advice to go back on the court, the condition worsened which kept her out again until Doha. 

"I got a lot of fans here in China. Of course, they expect I do better in China. Same as I," said Zheng, whose finish at the event was the semifinals in 2024. "I really want to do good here in China Open, so this also puts some extra pressure.

"I don't want to put extra pressure, but somehow there always is when I play in the Chinese season."