A 15-year-old Chinese tennis prodigy ousts the top seed, reaching the Orange Bowl final!

On December 13 local time, the 2025 ITF Orange Bowl J500 women's singles semifinals concluded in the United States. Fifteen-year-old Chinese rising star Sun Xinran swept Brazil's top seed Barros 6-2, 6-3, becoming the second Chinese player after Zheng Qinwen in 2018 to reach the Orange Bowl women's singles final.

Sun Xinran

The Orange Bowl J500 main draws for both men's and women's singles feature 64 slots each. This year, four Chinese players directly qualified for the women's singles main draw, with Zhang Ruien seeded third and Sun Xinran twelfth. All four Chinese players advanced smoothly through the first two rounds; in the third round, Zhang Ruien and Lin Yujun were defeated by two American players, exiting in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, Wei Zhangqian lost to top seed Barros.

Sun Xinran's path to advancement was relatively smooth. In excellent form, she won every match in straight sets, including a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Lani Chang, daughter of tennis legend Michael Chang, in the third round; a 6-2, 7-6(1) win against 14th seed Marinkovic in the quarterfinals; and a 6-2, 6-3 upset over top seed Barros in the semifinals.

The Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships, commonly known as the Orange Bowl, is a prestigious junior tennis tournament and one of the traditional ITF junior circuit J500 events (formerly classified as Grade A). Founded in 1947 in Miami Beach, it features two age categories—under 18 and under 16—and includes boys' and girls' singles and doubles competitions.

The Orange Bowl is regarded as a crucial stepping stone for aspiring top tennis players. Many past champions have grown into highly influential tennis legends, such as Agassi, Arthur Ashe, Rafter, Evert, Seles, Graf, Federer, Henin, and Roddick. More recently, well-known former champions include Gauff, Andreescu, Kenin, Thiem, Tiafoe, and Fritz.

Zheng Qinwen during her junior years

In 2018, 16-year-old Zheng Qinwen entered the tournament as the second seed. She defeated Kallieva, Cruz, Hennemann, and Lea Ma to reach the semifinals, where she cruised past Emma Navarro 6-0, 6-4, becoming the first Chinese player to reach the singles final at this event. In the final, Zheng battled top seed and 14-year-old Gauff in a three-set match, ultimately narrowly losing 1-6, 6-3, 4-6 to claim the runner-up position.

Sun Xinran will compete in the women's singles final at 22:00 Beijing time on December 14. Her opponent is Liutova, who has beaten her twice this year in J300 tournaments. Let's cheer for young talent Sun Xinran!

(Text and editing: Dato; Photos: Li Jianyi)