Is Zheng Qinwen still the top-performing Chinese female player in 2025?

The 2025 WTA Riyadh Year-End Finals are set to kick off soon. At approximately 8 PM Beijing time this evening, the opening group match will take place. The event remains hosted at King Saud University Sports Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, featuring indoor hard court surfaces.

It is reported that the prize pool for this year’s WTA Finals has reached $15.5 million, with $12.4 million allocated for singles and $3.1 million for doubles. If a player wins the championship undefeated, they can earn up to $5.235 million in prize money.

Meanwhile, the start of the year-end finals also signals the closing phase of the season. So, among the Chinese female players, who has had the best overall performance this year?

Zheng Qinwen: French Open Quarterfinalist, Rome Semifinalist

Current Ranking: 24th

As the current leading Chinese female player, Zheng Qinwen struggled with injuries in the latter half of the year and missed several tournaments. However, she delivered many impressive performances in the first half, especially after coach Pere Riba rejoined her team. She reached the quarterfinals consecutively at Indian Wells and Miami.

During the clay court season, Zheng achieved a career milestone by defeating Sabalenka for the first time at the Rome tournament, reaching the singles semifinals (her first WTA 1000 clay semifinal). At Roland Garros, she consecutively beat Arango, Mboko, and Samsonova to reach her first French Open singles quarterfinal. Additionally, Zheng made it to the semifinals at the Queen’s Club grass tournament, setting her best grass-court result to date.

Wang Xinyu: Berlin Runner-up

Current Ranking: 57th

Wang Xinyu’s performance in the Asian season this year has been quite disappointing, currently enduring a losing streak. Nevertheless, she had several standout moments throughout the year, most notably at the WTA 500 Berlin tournament, where she defeated Kasatkina, Gauff, Badosa, and Samsonova to reach the final.

Starting from the qualifiers in this event, Wang won six straight matches, dropping no sets in the main draw while beating four top-20 players in a row, reaching her first WTA singles final. Unfortunately, she lost to Vondrousova in the final, missing out on her maiden title.

Besides these two consistent top-100 Chinese players, we were pleasantly surprised by Zhang Shuai’s strong performance during the China season. She reached the singles semifinals at the Guangzhou Open and recorded eight singles wins, making her the Chinese player with the most victories in this year’s China tournaments.

In addition, players like Yuan Yue, Zhu Lin, Guo Hanyu, and Bai Zhuoxuan also showed good form in several events. Currently, there are 13 Chinese mainland players ranked within the top 300 of the WTA. So, who do you think has been the best performing Chinese female player this year?(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)