By the numbers: Five stats from Zheng’s China Open first-round win

Local favorite Zheng Qinwen opened her China Open campaign in Beijing on Thursday with a hard-fought three-set win over compatriot Shi Han in the first round.

Zheng won a tense opening set in a tiebreak on her fifth set point before Shi, a qualifier was seeking her first career WTA 1000-level main-draw win, battled back to take the second set 6-4.

Zheng, currently the second-highest-ranked Chinese player on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz behind Wang Xinyu, responded by breaking serve twice in the deciding set to complete a 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-2 victory in 2 hours and 44 minutes.

"I think in the beginning I'm giving away too much return, free mistake," Zheng told the media after the match. "I'm going a bit too rush in the both first and second set.

"I didn't change my rhythm like how I used to play, because I also trying wants to be more aggressive, so this cause more unusual mistakes. Then the third set when I'm almost on the limit, I talking to myself, like, I must first playing consistent, then trying to see if I got chance to step forward, to play more with the court, not only in the beginning going fast and fast."

Here are five key numbers from Zheng’s win:

4: Her victory over the world No. 231 Shi was her fourth win this year against a player ranked outside the top 100. Her only loss to a player outside the top 100 came at the French Open, where she fell to eventual runner-up Maja Chwalinska.

6: Zheng has now won six of her seven career meetings against fellow Chinese players. Her only loss came against Yue Yuan at Indian Wells in 2024.

11: Thursday’s victory was Zheng’s 11th three-set win of 2026, with seven of those victories coming on hard courts.

"When you talk about the three-setters, when I was 5-4 down in the second set, the two unforced errors were really painful," Zheng said talking about being extended to three sets. "I wasn't really placing the shots very accurately. I made mistakes. But in the third set, I could feel that I could read the game better.

"I have the mindset very clear. I wasn't too rushed. I was more patient, was willing to change up my speed and rhythm. I was moving forward and back. I was able to be more aggressive. That was the key to this match. Energy-wise, I wasn't feeling full energy. I was getting a bit more energy back in the third set."

18: Zheng has now won 18 matches in WTA-level main draws at tournaments held in China. She has recorded more wins in only two other countries: the United States, with 33, and Italy, with 23.

49: Thursday’s win was Zheng’s 49th at the WTA 1000 level. She ranks fourth among Chinese players for career match wins at the level since its introduction in 2009, behind Li Na, Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai.

Zheng, one of 12 Chinese players in this week’s main draw, advances to face No. 15 seed Anna Kalinskaya. The pair are tied 1-1 in their career head-to-head series. Zheng won their three-set encounter in the 2024 Australian Open quarterfinals, while Kalinskaya prevailed in their three-set meeting in the round of 32 in Guadalajara in 2022.