Takeaways: Zheng's star power on full display in China Open return

BEIJING -- Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen received a hero's welcome in her return to the China Open, where she eased past Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 6-1 in her tournament opener on Saturday night. The World No.7 secured her first career win at the event in front of an enthusiastic capacity crowd at the 15,000-seat Diamond Court, advancing to the third round to face either Dayana Yastremska or Nadia Podoroska. 

Beijing: Scores | Order of Play | Draws

"Atmosphere was insane," Zhang told reporters after the win. "I never thought it will be so full in the center court. They put on my [favorite Chinese pop song]. They just did everything for me.

"Honestly when I played last year in China Open, I remember it wasn't that full. Today I see there's nearly no empty seat."

Three takeaways from Zheng's emphatic night:

The 'Queenwen' effect is real

The star power surrounding Zheng even before she stepped on the court in Beijing has been undeniable. Her practices at the National Tennis Center have been swarmed by Chinese fans young and old. Every public appearance, whether at the tournament's opening ceremony or the player party, has been papered by a security presence rarely seen for an individual player at any event on tour.

Said simply: Zheng Qinwen is a rock star at home.

Zheng, 21, has yet to eclipse the markers set by China's last global star, Li Na, but every year she has shown she is a safe bet to do so. She was voted Newcomer of the Year in 2022 and, in a season that saw her notch her first two WTA titles, she was voted Most Improved in 2023. This year, she kicked off the year by making her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open and rose into the Top 10 for the first time. 

Nine months on, Zheng has one thing that Li did not: an Olympic gold medal. While Grand Slams may be considered the pinnacle of success within the world of professional tennis, Olympic glory unlocks an entirely different level of stardom and influence in China. 

Zheng's comfort on home soil is undeniable

To Zheng's credit, her bold and charismatic personality is built for the big stage. Some players might shrink under the pressure of being a national hero, crumbling under the incumbent pressure that brings. Not Zheng. She revels in it. In fact, she invites it.

"I don't consider that, like, big pressure," Zheng told reporters before the tournament. "I will consider it like big support. Especially when I'm feeling down, I see all the people support me.

"It is quite different to play in China compared to the rest of the world. I know basically all of them, 95% of the crowd, they going to support me. It's a big confidence. It's also a big energy there when I'm playing on court."

The China Open is doing its part to make Zheng feel right at home. In New York, she joked about looking forward to coming back to China, where she could finally get her choice of court assignments and start times. But she wasn't expecting the DJ to play her favorite song. Zheng couldn't help but start dancing along.

"I try to be serious, but they were playing that music, I couldn't control myself," she said. "I had to move with the music, sing with the music, because they were playing the songs I love. I was curious why the audience wasn't dancing with me.

"I like the Chinese traditional music. I listen to it a lot. I understand that the China Open played the song because of me."

Zheng's sparkling form continues

Since losing in the first round at Wimbledon, Zheng has now won 17 of her past 19 matches, a run that includes her successful title defense on the clay in Palermo, gold in Paris, and the US Open quarterfinals. Her two losses came to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Cincinnati and World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in New York. 

"I think after US Open, I been working really hard because I know there's a long time I didn't practice normal," Zheng said. "Also I put lot of work in my fitness. I didn't stop to put my effort in after Olympic Games.

"I did some mistake after Australian Open. This time I just say I just going to keep pushing hard and let's see if I can keep rising up without any backing up."

On Saturday night, Zheng walked out onto the Diamond Court to the loudest roar of the week. With the crowd making their support known after every point won or lost, she coolly came through a lengthy opening game to break Rakhimova on her third opportunity and was off and running. 

Into the draw as a lucky loser when Emma Raducanu withdrew, Rakhimova had no answers for Zheng's heavy baseline power. Zheng made her China Open debut last year on the heels of winning gold at the Asian Games, taking a fatigued 6-1, 6-2 loss to Elena Rybakina in the first round. This time, fully rested after her quarterfinal run at the US Open, Zheng was quickly back to her best. 

In fact, the only thing that did slow Zheng down was a brief rain delay. Once the roof was closed, she went back to work to strike 22 winners to 10 unforced errors in a 1-hour and 15-minute win. Zheng did not face a break point in the match.