“My highest ranking has been No. 4 in the world, and I still believe I can go higher”: Zheng Qinwen refuses to settle after Beijing run

Zheng Qinwen is back in the conversation about the upper end of the WTA rankings, but the Chinese star does not consider returning to her career-high No. 4 position to be the limit of her ambitions. After beating Elina Svitolina to reach the China Open semifinals, Zheng explained that she believes her best tennis may still be ahead of her, despite the difficult year that took her outside the top 100.

The 24-year-old defeated sixth seed Svitolina 6-3, 7-6(6), earning one of her most significant victories since returning to form. The result extended her successful Beijing campaign to five consecutive wins, including three victories against top-30 opponents, and continued a late-season stretch in which she has won 12 of her last 14 matches.

That run follows a remarkable turnaround. Zheng fell as low as No. 160 in June and entered the US Open ranked No. 121, forcing her to compete in qualifying at a tournament where she had previously been one of the sport's established stars. She subsequently won her way into the quarterfinals in New York, defeating Iga Swiatek along the way before losing to Elena Rybakina.

Now competing in Beijing as a wild card, Zheng has reached her second semifinal at the tournament and her fourth career WTA 1000 semifinal. Her latest results have moved her to No. 35 in the live rankings, putting a return to the top 30 within reach if she reaches the final. She will face Elise Mertens next after the Belgian eliminated Swiatek in the quarterfinals.

Speaking to the media after her victory over Svitolina, Zheng made clear that she is not simply trying to recover the level she produced earlier in her career. She wants to discover what else she can achieve as she gains experience, improves her decision-making and becomes more stable mentally.

“I am trying to be a better version of myself, to improve and discover a new version. I have always said that I did very good things when I was 21, but that was not my highest level. I feel there is still so much more I can do," the former world No. 4 said in press conference. "Now that I am turning 24, I want to find out if I can do much better as I age and gain maturity. Mentally, I am also more stable than before; when I was younger, I was very emotional.”

Her view of her ranking reflects that ambition. Although she has already reached the world's top four, Zheng believes her current position does not fully represent her ability. The immediate objective is to return to the top 30, but her longer-term target is to establish herself at an even higher level.

“Right now, for me, the ranking is just a number. Of course, it reflects what I have done over the past year, but I know where I can be. I don’t think my current position represents where I belong."

"My highest ranking has been No. 4 in the world, and I still believe I can go higher," she added. "I want to discover what I can bring to the future. I know it within me, but I have to prove it.”

Zheng's performance against Svitolina offered evidence that her progress is not limited to results. She has been using her forehand to change direction aggressively, while showing greater patience when a rally calls for it.

“At the beginning of the week, my goal was just to approach every single match, fight every single match and see how far I can arrive," Zheng claimed. "But once I’m really here, I see that my level is really high and I’m just really grateful to be in the semifinal.”

Zheng's route through the China Open shows how much work has gone into his recovery. Her first round was a hard-fought three-set victory against qualifer Han Shi and second round came with tough challenge against Anna Kalinskaya - lasted more than two hours before the Russian retired in the deciding set. She then won consecutive matches against Marie Bouzkova and Alina Charaeva, also in three sets. Latest in quarterfinals, she beat Svitolina in straight sets – her second top-10 victory of the season.

The semifinal against Mertens represents another opportunity to improve her ranking. A place in the final would move Zheng back into the top 30 in the live standings, a significant milestone after falling outside the top 100 earlier this year. The 24-year-old Chinese is also trying to establish that her 2024 level was not the peak of her career.

“I would say right now my level has improved a lot compared to before, even compared to the best version of me when I was at my 2024 level," Zheng said. "Everybody says that was the best version, but I don’t think that’s true because there is still more to come in the future."

"I’m still developing my game. I’m always trying to be more aggressive and make the right decisions on court. I would say I’m more mature than before.”

For now, Zheng's immediate focus is Mertens and the chance to reach the final in front of her home crowd. But her remarks after beating Svitolina made the broader ambition clear: returning to the top 30 is the next step, not the end goal. Having already reached No. 4 once, she believes there is still room to go higher — and her recent results are giving her a chance to prove it.