WTA China Open predictions, odds and tennis betting tips: Zheng poised to delight Beijing crowd

Where to watch the WTA China Open

Sky Sports Tennis & Main Event from 2am Wednesday

Best bet

Qinwen Zheng to win WTA China Open
1pt 12-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

WTA China Open predictions

The Grand Slams are done and dusted but the 2024 WTA Tour season heats up again this week with the first of two consecutive 1000 Series tournaments, the China Open at Beijing's National Tennis Center.

Iga Swiatek is absent due to personal reasons so the betting market is dominated by Aryna Sabalenka, who will make her first appearance since seeing off Jessica Pegula in the US Open final.

Sabalenka, who rose to number one on the WTA Tour after her New York triumph, is the one to beat but she has never progressed beyond the quarter-finals in this event and might not be at her very best after her Grand Slam-winning exploits.

US Open runner-up Pegula is interesting again while it will be fascinating to see how Coco Gauff performs after the American announced that she had split with coach Brad Gilbert last week.

However, the best bet could be Qinwen Zheng, who has been playing well enough to suggest she can delight the Chinese crowd in her first home outing since winning Olympic gold.

Zheng, a runner-up to Sabalenka in January's Australian Open final, was soundly beaten by Elena Rybakina in the first round of the 2023 China Open but she responded by winning the Zhenzhou title, coming from a set down to beat Barbora Krejcikova in the final.

She followed up that effort by reaching the Elite Trophy final in Zhuhai, losing a tight match against Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia, and she's taken her form to a higher level this season, rising to seventh in the world rankings.

The draw has been kind – Zheng's closest seed is out-of-form Dayana Yastremska and she has positive head-to-head records against potential last-16 and quarter-final opponents Daria Kasatkina and Jasmine Paolini.

A meeting with Sabalenka, who crushed her 6-1 6-2 in the last eight of the US Open, awaits in the semi-finals but Zheng would have a huge chance if the Belarusian fails to progress to that stage.

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