From Gaoyang to Beijing, in just half a year, Zeng Limei has achieved six major milestones in her professional career.

It is well known that tennis competitions last for a long period. From early January until the end of October each year, numerous tennis tournaments are held. This is why some players emerge as stars annually. In the 2025 season, Southeast Asian tennis players have attracted many fans with their strong showings.

Among these players, one is the Filipino competitor Iela, and the other is Indonesia’s Zeng Limei. Regarding Iela, I have previously detailed her seven major career breakthroughs in the article “From the US to the UK to Mexico, Iela’s Seven Career Milestones in 2025.” So, what notable achievements has Zeng Limei made in the 2025 season? Today, this article will take you through them.

At the beginning of the 2025 season, Zeng Limei’s world ranking was still beyond 400. In the first two months, she couldn’t secure a single win in the main draws of the Hope tournaments. In early April, although Zeng reached the semifinals at the Osaka Hope tournament, she was soundly defeated by Chinese player Ma Yexin. At that time, it was clear that Zeng Limei was not yet a match for second- or third-tier Chinese rising stars like Ma Yexin.

From late April at the Gaoyang Hope tournament to the Taipei Hope tournament at the end of June, within two months, Zeng Limei won six Hope tournament titles. This was the first time in her professional career that she claimed six Hope titles in a single season, instantly earning her the nickname “Queen of the Hope tournaments.” This marked the first major breakthrough in Zeng Limei’s career during the 2025 season.

By winning these six titles, she boosted her world ranking by over 200 places, but this was still not enough to satisfy her ambitions. From late July to early August, Zeng reached back-to-back finals in Challenger tournaments, a first in her career. Although she lost both finals and missed out on the titles, this still represented her second career breakthrough in the 2025 season.

At the end of August, Zeng Limei appeared in the US Open qualifiers for the first time in her career. She consecutively defeated American player Lepchenko, Polish player Kwarlinska, and Japanese player Ito Aoi, making her debut in a Grand Slam main draw. This was her third career breakthrough in the 2025 season.

In the first round, she battled through three sets to defeat Russian player Kudermetova, earning her first-ever Grand Slam main draw victory. Although she was heavily defeated in the second round by British player Raducanu, Zeng Limei still achieved her fourth career breakthrough in the 2025 season.

In early September, Zeng Limei competed in the WTA 250 São Paulo Open. She defeated French player Jang Jang and Slovak player M. Okalova to reach the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinal match, her opponent was Filipino player Iela. Zeng allowed her opponent only five games throughout the match. After this decisive victory, Zeng advanced smoothly to the semifinals.

In the semifinals, she won in straight sets against British player F. Jones, reaching her first-ever WTA Tour final. Unfortunately, in the final, Zeng was swept by French player Rachon. Despite the runner-up finish, this marked Zeng Limei’s fifth career breakthrough in the 2025 season.

This week, she qualified for the China Open by defeating Italian player Stefanini and Bulgarian player Tomova, making her debut in a WTA 1000 main draw. In the first round, Zeng lost to Belarusian player Sasnovich and couldn’t progress further. Nevertheless, she still achieved her sixth career breakthrough in the 2025 season.

Thus, in less than half a year, Zeng Limei has climbed over 300 spots in the world rankings. She is now the top female player in Indonesia. What further breakthroughs will she achieve next? Let’s wait and see. That’s the tennis story for today; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)