In the first round of the China Open, Wang Zuo may secure her first WTA1000 victory of the 2025 season.

Unnoticed, the draw for the WTA1000 China Open was released a few days ago. This is the highest-level tennis event hosted by the WTA during the Asian season. So, which Chinese players are participating in this tournament, and what are their prospects for advancing? Today, this article will take you through the details.

Wildcard entrant Yuan Yue faces Kazakhstan’s Putintseva in the first round. Since reaching the round of 32 at the WTA1000 Cincinnati event in early August, Yuan has suffered a four-match losing streak. Currently, her world ranking has slipped out of the top 100. Although Putintseva’s 2025 season results have also been disappointing, including a six-match losing streak, her ranking is still significantly higher than Yuan’s. Therefore, it will likely be difficult for Yuan to gain an advantage in this match. What are your thoughts on this?

In the 2025 season, Zhu Lin, who has reached finals in both the ITF and Challenger tournaments, faces a qualifier in the first round of the WTA1000 China Open. Recently, Zhu Lin reached the round of 16 at the WTA1000 Montreal event, demonstrating her solid form. Although qualifiers can be tough opponents, I believe Zhu Lin should be able to overcome her opponent and advance to the second round.

Wei Sijia, who qualified for the 2025 Australian Open main draw, enters the WTA1000 China Open as a wildcard. Her first-round opponent is Turkey’s Senmez, who has only reached one tour-level quarterfinal this season and is in poor form. Facing such an opponent, Wei Sijia has a strong chance to win. So far, she has only one tour-level win in 2025 and may hope to claim her second victory of the season in Beijing.

In 2025, both Wang Xiyu and Guo Hanyu won titles at the Challenger level. Unfortunately, they will face each other in the first round of the WTA1000 China Open. Although Guo Hanyu has made significant progress this season and recently qualified for the 2026 Australian Open qualifying draw, she may still struggle against Wang Xiyu, who has previously won a tour-level title. Wang Xiyu is likely to earn her first WTA1000 win of the 2025 season here.

Wang Yafan’s first-round opponent is the Dutch player Lammens, who recently reached the quarterfinals of the WTA500 Seoul event. In contrast, Wang Yafan was eliminated early in the qualifying rounds of that same tournament. Given this disparity, Wang Yafan may face a tough defeat and could be swept aside by her opponent.

Veteran Zhang Shuai will meet Britain’s Bolt in the first round. Bolt recently won her first career WTA500 title. However, Zhang Shuai has claimed two Challenger titles in 2025 and is maintaining good form. This match is expected to be a hard-fought battle possibly going to a deciding set. Due to her advancing age and limited stamina, Zhang may struggle against Bolt.

Zhang Ruien and Shi Han both enter the WTA1000 China Open as wildcards, but their first-round opponents hold much higher world rankings. For these two players, pushing their opponents to a decisive set tie-break would already be a success. That’s the tennis story for today; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)