2025 Wuhan Open: Zheng Qinwen Makes a Surprise Appearance at the Opening Ceremony, Yuan Yue Advances, Wang Xinyu and Zhu Lin Defeated

On October 6th, 2025, the women’s singles main draw of the Wuhan Open officially began. Zheng Qinwen attended the opening ceremony in her hometown and appeared alongside Bai Xilin, director of the Tennis Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China, and three-time Wuhan Open women’s singles champion Sabalenka to launch the event. Zheng Qinwen was last year’s runner-up at Wuhan, but due to injury, she will not compete this year. Let us wish her a speedy recovery and a quick return to the court.

After the opening ceremony, Wang Xinyu started her campaign at the central court. She reached the semifinals last year. This year, Wang’s first-round opponent was Japan’s Moeka Nishimoto, who had previously defeated another Chinese player, Wang Xiyu, during the qualifying rounds.

Nishimoto took the first set 6-4 by securing a crucial break. In the second set, she also gained a 5-3 lead. At a critical moment, Wang Xinyu broke her opponent’s serve in the match point game, but then missed her own chance to serve out the set. The match went to a tiebreak, where excessive unforced errors put Wang on the back foot, and she ultimately lost 6-7(3). After losing the points from last year’s semifinal run, Wang’s current ranking dropped to No. 62. Wang was emotional during the post-match press conference; we hope she regains her form soon and achieves great results in upcoming matches.

Yuan Yue played on Court No. 1, winning a grueling 2-hour 21-minute battle with Italian qualifier Bronzetti in straight sets, 7-6(2), 7-6(1). This marks her second consecutive year reaching the second round of the Wuhan Open women’s singles. Next, she will face the 7th seed Paolini across the net. Notably, last year in the second round, Yuan also faced Paolini, who won in straight sets then.

At the press conference, Yuan Yue shared lessons learned from the Billie Jean King Cup: “In today’s match, I felt more determined, and playing at home definitely gave me an advantage. So mentally, I believed in myself more and felt more confident.”

In an earlier first-round women’s singles match, Chinese player Zhu Lin fought hard in two sets but lost narrowly to Australian youngster Joints, 5-7, 6-7(10), after saving four match points and missing one set point in the second set tiebreak, thus failing to advance.

Other match results

Baptiste defeated Krug 2-6, 6-4, 6-2

[Q] Siniakova defeated Schneider [15] 6-4, 6-4

Buzkova defeated Osorio 6-3, 6-4

Mertens defeated P. Kudermetova [Q] 7-6(5), 6-3

[10] Tauson defeated Danilovic 6-3, 7-5

Sigmund led 7-5, 4-6, 4-1 before Jastremska retired

Bosmans defeated Gracheva [Q] 7-6(0), 6-2

[Q] Rudic defeated Linette 6-2, 6-3

[9] Aleksandrova defeated Mboko 6-3, 6-2

In the first round of the women’s doubles matches that finished early, Jiang Xinyu and Zhan Haoqing won 6-3, 6-3 over Wu Fangxian and Hosogi Eri to advance. Zhang Shuai and Meladze lost 4-6, 0-6 to Aoyama Shuko and Buksha, ending their run.

Schedule for the second day

On October 7th, the highlight match between Naomi Osaka and Fernandez will open the day session on the central court. The second match features Raducanu versus Ann Li, followed by Chinese player Zhang Shuai challenging 14th seed Navarro. The night session will be led by 2nd seed Swiatek and 5th seed Andreyeva, facing Buzkova and Sigmund respectively. Yuan Yue, Tang Qianhui, Wang Xiyu, and Guo Hanyu will compete in the first round of the women’s doubles.

Photo: Provided by the tournament