Zheng defeats Kenin in Tokyo to win his third title of the year

Zheng Qinwen will head into her WTA Finals debut on a winning streak after winning her third title of the year in Tokyo.

No. 1 seed Zheng of China secured the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis with a hard-fought 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over American wildcard Sofia Kenin in the final of the WTA 500 tournament on Sunday. Trophy.

Tokyo: scores | Pulls

World No. 7 Zheng needed 1 hour and 52 minutes to prevail in her first career meeting with 2020 Australian Open champion Kenin to claim her first hardcourt title of the season. It is Hologic's fifth WTA Tour singles title in her distinguished career.

““I really appreciate being able to fight through and become the champion in Tokyo,” Zheng said afterwards. “This is what I wanted to achieve when I was 19 years old. “I fought so hard but I didn't do it, I lost [2022] Final. This year I’m just really happy.”

On the road to success: Zheng had already won two clay court titles this year: she won the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris and successfully defended her title in Palermo. But it was the Chinese No. 1's first hardcourt title since she lifted the trophy in Zhengzhou just over a year ago.

Zheng now has a win-loss record of 8-1 at the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis. In her only previous appearance in Tokyo in 2022, she reached her first career WTA singles final, finishing second to Liudmila Samsonova.

By going one step further in her second appearance in Tokyo, Zheng extends her exceptional performance in the second half of this season. She has a 28-4 record since Wimbledon, including a 12-2 run in the Asian swing.

Zheng had already achieved new milestones during this year's autumn track. In her home country of China, she reached her first WTA 1000 semi-final of her career in Beijing and reached her first WTA 1000 final a week later in Wuhan.

Having started this year by reaching the Australian Open final, Zheng's strong end-of-season form helped her secure one of the last remaining singles spots at the year-end WTA Finals in Riyadh. The prestigious Hologic WTA Tour season finale begins on Saturday, November 2nd.

“All players [in Riyadh] are really hard to beat,” Zheng said. “Since the first game [I] have to be concentrated. … It's the first time I'm playing in the WTA finals. I was so motivated. But let’s see what will happen.”

History of the game: Zheng was nearly flawless while serving in Sunday's final, which was played largely indoors after two brief rain delays in the first four games of the final.

Zheng was never broken and only had a single break point on Sunday. This year's ace leader on tour, Zheng, hit an incredible 16 aces on Sunday, raising her 2024 total to 406.

Nonetheless, former world No. 4 Kenin gave Zheng all she could in the opening set as the American sought her first title since her breakthrough 2020 season. Kenin bravely erased all five break points she faced in the first set, forcing Zheng into the tiebreak.

But Zheng was up to the task and broke the break with a forehand winner after 67 minutes. Zheng won 100 percent of her first serve points in the first frame (21 against 21), depriving Kenin of any chance of getting into a return match.

Kenin got her only break point at 4-2 in the second set, but Zheng destroyed it with a huge serve that wasn't returned. With the score at 5-3, Zheng secured the championship point with a clever reflex volley and secured the victory after a Kenin shot flew narrowly wide.

Double result: Later on Sunday, the all-Japanese pair of Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi claimed the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis doubles title on home soil. In the final they defeated their compatriot Ena Shibahara and the German Laura Siegemund 6:4, 7:6(3).

It took Aoyama and Hozumi just under two hours to triumph in the completely unseeded final. The defending champions were unable to close out the game 6-5 in the second set, but converted their third match point in the second set tiebreak to take the trophy.

It is Aoyama's 20th WTA doubles title and her first in over a year. Hozumi has already won six WTA doubles titles in her career, and this is her first tour-level crown since 2022.