Zheng Qinwen turned 23 this week and used the celebration to lift the mood after a difficult stretch of the 2025 season. The Olympic champion missed three months this summer following an elbow injury and surgery, and her comeback was cut short when she retired in her second match at the China Open. She had acknowledged she was not playing at “100%” despite medical clearance.

On Instagram Zheng shared moments from her birthday, thanking fans and sponsors for an outpouring of flowers and gifts. Highlights included a blue bouquet from communications company Vivo with blue tennis ball accents, soft pink blooms from Lancôme, and several artistic portraits. She wrote, ‘Never seen anything like this before,” about the response.

The evening ended at a karaoke bar, a familiar hobby for Zheng. She first told reporters at the 2023 US Open that karaoke and rollercoasters are two of her favorite off-court pursuits . On her singing preferences she has said, “Mostly I sing Chinese songs, slower songs,” she said. “I also do some Chinese rap. I maybe only sing three or four English songs. For the most part, it’s Chinese.”

Zheng has shown that side of herself before on the court and around tournaments. After winning her first WTA singles title in Zhengzhou in 2023, she offered an impromptu performance for home fans, and she gathered Team China for an on-camera rendition at the 2024 United Cup.

The birthday respite comes as Zheng faces a rankings setback. She will fall out of the Top 10 for the first time since January 2024 on Monday and will miss qualification for the year-end WTA Finals for the second straight season. Despite those disappointments, the social posts and celebration suggested she is looking to close the 2025 campaign on a more positive note.

Amanda Anisimova left Beijing with more than a trophy. Her week at the China Open was a statement of power and newly apparent resilience, and it arrives with timing ahead of a quick trip to Wuhan.

In Beijing she overwhelmed Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals. “Like, all my shots were working today, which is like my favorite way to play,” Anisimova said after that victory. Earlier in the week she erased first-set deficits against two Grand Slam finalists, Karolina Muchova and Jasmine Paolini, winning both matches 6-4 in the third.

The final against Linda Noskova opened with Anisimova firing 11 winners in a bagel first set. Noskova pushed back in the second, and the match tightened. At 2-3 in the third, with Noskova serving and facing a break point, the pair engaged in a long, middling rally that ended when Anisimova seized control and Noskova erred on a backhand. Anisimova then closed the last three games, finishing with a boldly struck backhand for her 36th winner and collapsing to the court in celebration.

“I think I learned a lot through this week,” Anisimova said. “I think when I’m not feeling my best physically or I’m facing a challenge, I think I pay so much attention to that that I actually play better, ’cause I don’t have as much pressure and I’m just seeing how far I can get.

“With each match, I’ve been surprising myself and trying to learn how to work with physical pain, pushing myself in tough matches. This week has been a lot of progress in that department.”

The title is Anisimova’s second WTA 1000 of 2025, following Doha, and it moves her past Gauff into third place in the Race to Riyadh behind Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.

After two weeks in Beijing, Anisimova and Noskova head south to Wuhan. The draw there is 56 players and the purse is smaller, but the top of the draw is deep now that No. 1 Sabalenka has returned. The top eight seeds are Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Anisimova, Mirra Andreeva, Pegula, Paolini and Elena Rybakina. Sabalenka leads Swiatek by 1,600 points in the race for No. 1, and both have challenging projected paths. There are two distinct competitions to follow this week: the fight for the top ranking and the push to qualify for the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

Third-seeded Amanda Anisimova claimed the China Open on Sunday with a 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Linda Noskova in the indoor hard-court final. Anisimova sealed the match with a backhand winner down the line and fell on her back as she lifted the trophy for the first time.

The American had ended defending champion Coco Gauff’s title defense in the semifinals before advancing to the final. Noskova provided a stern test across three sets and at times pushed Anisimova, but she ran out of steam in the closing stages of a contest that lasted one hour and 46 minutes.

The win added another big title to Anisimova’s season. Anisimova, the runner-up at both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon this year who has risen to No. 4 in the world rankings, claimed her second WTA 1000 title of the season. The earlier rounds also saw her collect her second WTA final of the season, a run that underlined her form on the sport’s biggest stages.

The final displayed contrasting stretches: Anisimova opened with a dominant 6-0 set, Noskova responded to take the second 6-2, and Anisimova recovered to close the match in the third. The decisive backhand down the line ended a match marked by momentum swings and high-quality baseline exchanges. The title completes a noteworthy week for the third seed, who combined aggressive shotmaking with key winners at pivotal moments to secure the championship.