2008–12: ITF & WTA debut, top 100 in doubles

Zheng began playing on the ITF Women's Circuit in June 2008, at the age of 14, where, at the $25k Qian Shan, she lost in the first round of qualifying against fellow Chinese Zhou Xiao. Her first main-draw appearance happened next year, at a $10k event in Jiangmen in February. In July 2009, she played her first ITF singles final and also win the trophy, at the $10k Shenzhen, after defeating Sabina Sharipova in the final. On the same tournament, she also made her doubles debut, but lost in the first round. In July 2010, she won her first ITF doubles title at the $10k Hefei, alongside Tian Ran. She won one singles title, at the $10k Taipei in October 2010.

In September 2011, Zheng made her WTA Tour debut in both singles and doubles at the Guangzhou International Open. There she won her first doubles title, partnering Hsieh Su-wei and defeating Chan Chin-wei and Han Xinyun in straight sets. In singles, she lost in the first round. Week later, she made her debut at the Premier Mandatory China Open as a wildcard player only in singles, but lost in round one. During the year, she also performed on the ITF Circuit in doubles, winning the $100k Ningbo Challenger alongside Tetiana Luzhanska in September 2011, right before she made her WTA Tour debut. As the year passed by, Zheng progressed more and more in doubles ranking, starting the year as No. 794 and finishing the year as world No. 108. In singles, she rose from 670 to No. 276.

At the 2012 French Open, Zheng made her doubles Grand Slam debut and also won her first match there. Later, she had her first attempts to be part of the Grand Slam tournament main draw in singles, but lost in the qualifying of Wimbledon, and later of the US Open. In July 2012, she won her first singles match at the Premier-level Stanford Classic, defeating Ayumi Morita in the first round. For the second year-in-a-row, she played at the China Open as wildcard player, but again lost in the first round. This time she also played in doubles, but lost in the first round. During the season, she progress in singles ranking, entering top 150 for the first time in September 2012 and finished year as world No. 133. In doubles, she debuted in the top 100 in February 2012, then rose to No. 84 in July, but finished the year as world No. 98.

2013–15: Progress, Australian Open SF in doubles

Zheng had a strong start of the year, reaching Australian Open doubles semifinal as her first significant major result. In that semifinal match, she partnered with Varvara Lepchenko, and they were defeated by Australians Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua, in straight sets. She still do not shine in singles, but continued with good performances in doubles, reaching quarterfinals at the French Open, also with Lepchenko, where they were defeated by top-seeded Italian duo Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, in straight sets.^[3] In August, she made progress in singles, reaching the final of the Suzhou Ladies Open, but lost to Shahar Peer. By the end of the year, in singles, she reached two WTA 125 quarterfinals, in Nanjing and Taipei, while at both those tournaments she reached semifinals in doubles. She also reached semifinal of the International-level Japan Women's Open in doubles. In the doubles ranking, Zheng debut in the top 50 in doubles, getting to place 49 in March, and then rose to No. 38, that also was her year-end ranking. In singles, she made ups and downs in the rankings, but spent whole year inside top 200. She finished the year as world No. 162.

Things became better for Zheng in singles in 2014. She had her major main-draw debut in singles, passed qualifying at the US Open and also then her first match-win there. She defeated Stefanie Vögele in the first round, but then lost to Lucie Šafářová. She then had success at both WTA Tour and WTA 125 tournaments. On WTA Tour, she first reached quarterfinals of the Hong Kong Open and then semifinals of the Tianjin Open, while on the Challenger Tour, she reached quarterfinals in Suzhou, Ningbo and Taipei. During the year, she reached one final in doubles, at the Malaysian Open in April. On 13 October 2014, she entered top 100 in singles, when she reached the spot of world No. 92. Zheng finished 2014 season as the 97th.^[4] In doubles, she had ups and downs but spent the whole year inside top 100 and finished 81st.

During the year, Zheng made good performances, both in singles and doubles. Her most valued title of the year was at the Premier-level Stanford Classic in doubles event in August. That was her first final and title from higher-level tournament, than International. Along with that, in October she won Tianjin Open, also in doubles. In singles, her most recognized result of the year was in the first week of the year, at the Shenzhen Open, where she reached semifinal. In the second half of the year, she reached two quarterfinals, at the Japan Open and Guangzhou Open. On the WTA Challenger Tour, she reached final of the Dalian Open in singles, while in doubles she won the title, and so she did at the Jiangxi Open. On the ITF Circuit, she won two $75k titles in singles and one in doubles. At the end of the year, she was handed a wildcard for the WTA Elite Trophy in singles. However, she lost both matches in the round-robin group, to Madison Keys and Venus Williams.

2016–18: Top 25 in doubles & top 50 in singles year-end rankings

2019–21: First WTA title, top 35, French Open doubles final, Olympics

At the 2019 French Open, Zheng made her first Grand Slam final, alongside Duan Yingying; they lost against Tímea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic, in straight sets.^[5]

In August, Zheng won her first WTA Tour singles title at the Silicon Valley Classic when she defeated second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka in the final.^[6]

She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 34 on 2 March 2020, following a second quarterfinal showing at the Qatar Ladies Open.

Singles

Doubles

Doubles: 1 (runner-up)

More information Result, Year ...

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	2019	French Open	Clay	Duan Yingying	Tímea Babos Kristina Mladenovic	2–6, 3–6

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Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

More information Result, W–L ...

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Jul 2018	Jiangxi International Open, China	International	Hard	Wang Qiang	5–7, 0–4 ret.
Win	1–1	Aug 2019	Silicon Valley Classic, United States	Premier	Hard	Aryna Sabalenka	6–3, 7–6(7–3)

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Doubles: 13 (5 titles, 8 runner-ups)

More information Result, W–L ...

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Sep 2011	Guangzhou Open, China	International	Hard	Hsieh Su-wei	Chan Chin-wei Han Xinyun	6–2, 6–1
Loss	1–1	Apr 2014	Malaysian Open	International	Hard	Chan Yung-jan	Tímea Babos Chan Hao-ching	3–6, 4–6
Loss	1–2	May 2015	Internationaux de Strasbourg, France	International	Clay	Nadiia Kichenok	Chuang Chia-jung Liang Chen	6–4, 4–6, [10–12]
Win	2–2	Aug 2015	Silicon Valley Classic, U.S.	Premier	Hard	Xu Yifan	Anabel Medina Garrigues Arantxa Parra Santonja	6–1, 6–3
Win	3–2	Oct 2015	Tianjin Open, China	International	Hard	Xu Yifan	Darija Jurak Nicole Melichar	6–2, 3–6, [10–8]
Loss	3–3	Jan 2016	Shenzhen Open, China	International	Hard	Xu Yifan	Vania King Monica Niculescu	1–6, 4–6
Win	4–3	Mar 2019	Abierto Mexicano, Mexico	International	Hard	Victoria Azarenka	Desirae Krawczyk Giuliana Olmos	6–1, 6–2
Loss	4–4	Jun 2019	French Open	Grand Slam	Clay	Duan Yingying	Tímea Babos Kristina Mladenovic	2–6, 3–6
Loss	4–5	Jan 2020	Shenzhen Open, China	International	Hard	Duan Yingying	Barbora Krejčíková Kateřina Siniaková	2–6, 6–3, [4–10]
Loss	4–6	Feb 2020	Dubai Championships, UAE	Premier	Hard	Barbora Krejčíková	Hsieh Su-wei Barbora Strýcová	5–7, 6–3, [5–10]
Loss	4–7	Mar 2021	Monterrey Open, Mexico	WTA 250	Hard	Heather Watson	Caroline Dolehide Asia Muhammad	2–6, 3–6
Win	5–7	Oct 2021	Courmayeur Open, Italy	WTA 250	Hard (i)	Wang Xinyu	Eri Hozumi Zhang Shuai	6–4, 3–6, [10–5]
Loss	5–8	Nov 2021	Linz Open, Austria	WTA 250	Hard (i)	Wang Xinyu	Natela Dzalamidze Kamilla Rakhimova	4–6, 2–6

Close

Singles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

More information Result, W–L ...

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1–0	Aug 2013	Suzhou Ladies Open, China	Hard	Shahar Pe'er	2–6, 6–2, 3–6
Win	1–1	Sep 2015	Dalian Open, China	Hard	Julia Glushko	2–6, 6–1, 7–5
Win	2–1	Apr 2018	Zhengzhou Open, China	Hard	Wang Yafan	5–7, 6–2, 6–1
Loss	2–2	May 2018	Kunming Open, China	Clay	Irina Khromacheva	6–3, 4–6, 6–7(5–7)
Win	3–2	Apr 2019	Kunming Open, China	Clay	Zhang Shuai	6–4, 6–1

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Doubles: 3 (3 titles)

More information Result, W–L ...

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Aug 2015	Jiangxi Open, China	Hard	Chang Kai-chen	Chan Chin-wei Wang Yafan	6–3, 4–6, [10–3]
Win	2–0	Sep 2015	Dalian Open, China	Hard	Zhang Kailin	Chan Chin-wei Darija Jurak	6–3, 6–4
Win	3–0	Sep 2021	Columbus Challenger, U.S.	Hard (i)	Wang Xinyu	Dalila Jakupović Nuria Párrizas Díaz	6–1, 6–1

Close

Singles: 20 (12 titles, 8 runner–ups)

More information Result, W–L ...

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Jul 2009	ITF Shenzhen, China	10,000	Hard	Sabina Sharipova	7–5, 6–4
Loss	1–1	Apr 2010	ITF Ningbo, China	10,000	Hard	Tian Ran	6–2, 6–3
Loss	1–2	Jun 2010	ITF Hefei, China	10,000	Hard	Duan Yingying	6–3, 6–4
Win	2–2	Oct 2010	ITF Taipei, Taiwan	10,000	Hard	Zhang Ling	6–3, 6–3
Loss	2–3	Jan 2011	ITF Muzaffarnagar, India	25,000	Grass	Tadeja Majerič	6–2, 5–7, 6–2
Loss	2–4	Jan 2011	Burnie International, Australia	25,000	Hard	Eugenie Bouchard	6–4, 6–3
Loss	2–5	Apr 2012	ITF Wenshan, China	50,000	Hard	Hsieh Su-wei	6–3, 6–3
Win	3–5	May 2012	Kurume Cup, Japan	50,000	Grass	Monique Adamczak	7–5, 6–2
Win	4–5	Oct 2012	ITF Taipei, Taiwan	25,000	Hard	Zarina Diyas	6–4, 6–1
Loss	4–6	Sep 2013	ITF Sanya, China	50,000	Hard	Karolína Plíšková	6–3, 6–4
Win	5–6	May 2014	Anning Open, China	50,000	Clay	Jovana Jakšić	6–2, 6–3
Win	6–6	Apr 2015	Kangaroo Cup, Japan	75,000	Hard	Naomi Osaka	3–6, 7–5, 6–4
Win	7–6	May 2015	Anning Open, China (2)	75,000	Clay	Han Xinyun	6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Loss	7–7	Mar 2017	Zhuhai Open, China	60,000	Hard	Denisa Allertová	3–6, 6–2, 4–6
Win	8–7	Apr 2017	Blossom Cup, China	60,000	Hard	Liu Fangzhou	6–2, 6–3
Win	9–7	Apr 2017	Kunming Open, China	100,000+H	Clay	Zarina Diyas	7–5, 6–4
Win	10–7	Apr 2018	Blossom Cup, China (2)	60,000	Hard	Liu Fangzhou	6–3, 6–1
Win	11–7	Oct 2018	Suzhou Ladies Open, China	100,000	Hard	Jana Čepelová	7–5, 6–1
Loss	11–8	Nov 2018	Shenzhen Longhua Open, China	100,000	Hard	Ivana Jorović	3–6, 6–2, 4–6
Win	12–8	Sep 2021	Portugal Ladies Open	60,000+H	Hard	Harmony Tan	6–4, 3–6, 6–3

Close

Doubles: 16 (9 titles, 7 runner–ups)

More information Result, W–L ...

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Jun 2010	ITF Hefei, China	10,000	Hard	Tian Ran	Bai Xi Zhang Kailin	6–0, 6–4
Loss	1–1	Oct 2010	ITF Taipei, Taiwan	10,000	Hard	Juan Ting-fei	Kao Shao-yuan Wang Qiang	6–3, 7–6(7–2)
Win	2–1	May 2011	ITF Changwon, South Korea	25,000	Hard	Chan Hao-ching	Yurika Sema Erika Takao	6–2, 4–6, [11–9]
Loss	2–2	Aug 2011	Beijing Challenger, China	75,000	Hard	Tetiana Luzhanska	Chan Hao-ching Chan Yung-jan	6–2, 6–3
Win	3–2	Sep 2011	Ningbo International, China	100,000	Hard	Tetiana Luzhanska	Chan Chin-wei Han Xinyun	6–4, 5–7, [10–4]
Loss	3–3	Feb 2012	Launceston International, Australia	25,000	Hard	Hsieh Shu-ying	Kotomi Takahata Shuko Aoyama	6–4, 6–4
Win	4–3	Mar 2012	ITF Sanya, China	25,000	Hard	Erika Sema	Liang Chen Zhou Yimiao	6–2, 6–2
Loss	4–4	Mar 2012	ITF Phuket, Thailand	25,000	Hard	Chan Chin-wei	Natela Dzalamidze Marta Sirotkina	4–6, 1–6
Win	5–4	Mar 2012	ITF Phuket, Thailand	25,000	Hard	Noppawan Lertcheewakarn	Sun Shengnan Han Xinyun	6–3, 6–3
Win	6–4	May 2012	Kangaroo Cup, Japan	50,000	Hard	Jessica Pegula	Chan Chin-wei Hsu Wen-hsin	6–4, 3–6, [10–4]
Loss	6–5	Sep 2012	Ningbo International, China	100,000	Hard	Tetiana Luzhanska	Shuko Aoyama Chang Kai-chen	2–6, 5–7
Loss	6–6	Apr 2014	Nanning Open, China	25,000	Hard	Zhang Ling	Zhang Kailin Han Xinyun	6–7(8–10), 6–7(3–7)
Win	7–6	May 2014	Empire Slovak Open	75,000	Clay	Stephanie Vogt	Margarita Gasparyan Evgeniya Rodina	6–4, 6–2
Win	8–6	May 2015	Anning Open, China	75,000	Hard	Xu Yifan	Yang Zhaoxuan Ye Qiuyu	7–5, 6–2
Win	9–6	Jul 2018	Contrexéville Open, France	100,000	Clay	An-Sophie Mestach	Prarthana Thombare Eva Wacanno	3–6, 6–2, [10–7]
Loss	9–7	Nov 2019	ITF Hua Hin, Thailand	25,000	Hard	Ng Kwan-yau	Tamarine Tanasugarn Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove	2–6, 6–7(5–7)

Close

Singles: 1 (silver medal)

More information Result, Year ...

Result	Year	Host nation	Surface	Opponent	Score
Silver	2010	Singapore	Hard	Daria Gavrilova	6–2, 2–6, 0–6

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Doubles: 1 (gold medal)

More information Result, Year ...

Result	Year	Host nation	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Gold	2010	Singapore	Hard	Tang Haochen	Jana Čepelová Chantal Škamlová	6–4, 3–6, [10–4]

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Record against top 10 players

Zheng's record against players who have been ranked in the top 10. Active players are in boldface.^[8]

Player	Record	Win%	Hard	Clay	Grass	Last match
Number 1 ranked players
Angelique Kerber	1–0	100%	1–0	–	–	Won (7–5, 6–1) at 2016 Doha
Naomi Osaka	1–3	25%	1–2	0–1	–	Lost (1–6, 4–6) at 2020 Olympics
Ashleigh Barty	0–5	0%	0–2	0–2	0–1	Lost (3–6, 7–6(7–5), 2–6) at 2019 Beijing
Simona Halep	0–3	0%	0–1	0–1	0–1	Lost (0–6, 4–6) at 2021 Madrid
Jelena Janković	0–2	0%	0–1	0–1	–	Lost (3–6, 3–6) at 2015 Strasbourg
Garbiñe Muguruza	0–3	0%	0–2	0–1	–	Lost (3–6, 4–6) at 2019 Rome
Karolína Plíšková	0–3	0%	0–2	0–1	–	Lost (2–6, 1–6) at 2021 Miami
Venus Williams	0–2	0%	0–2	–	–	Lost (1–6, 0–6) at 2019 US Open
Caroline Wozniacki	0–2	0%	0–1	–	0–1	Lost (1–6, 4–6) at 2016 Hong Kong
Number 2 ranked players
Ons Jabeur	1–0	100%	1–0	–	–	Won (6–1, 6–2) at 2017 Zhuhai
Petra Kvitová	1–0	100%	1–0	–	–	Won (6–2, ret.) at 2016 Shenzhen
Agnieszka Radwańska	1–0	100%	1–0	–	–	Won (6–4, 7–5) at 2016 Olympics
Vera Zvonareva	1–0	100%	1–0	–	–	Won (7–5, 6–1) at 2020 Doha
Aryna Sabalenka	2–2	50%	2–2	–	–	Lost (6–3, 6–7(2–7), 3–6) at 2020 Doha
Anett Kontaveit	1–2	33%	1–1	–	0–1	Lost (1–6, 2–6) at 2016 Shenzhen
Paula Badosa	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	Lost (1–6, 5–7) at 2015 Miami
Barbora Krejčíková	0–2	0%	0–1	0–1	–	Lost (2–6, 0–6) at 2021 Rome
Number 3 ranked players
Maria Sakkari	2–1	67%	2–0	–	0–1	Won (7–6(7–5), 6–2) at 2019 San Jose
Elina Svitolina	1–1	50%	0–1	1–0	–	Won (2–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–3) at 2017 Madrid
Sloane Stephens	1–2	33%	1–1	0–1	–	Won (6–3, 6–1) at 2019 Beijing
Number 4 ranked players
Sofia Kenin	1–0	100%	1–0	–	–	Won (7–5, 6–2) at 2016 Indian Wells Qualifying
Caroline Garcia	1–1	50%	1–1	–	–	Lost (2–6, 2–6) at 2015 Beijing
Kiki Bertens	1–2	33%	1–2	–	–	Won (3–6, 6–3, 6–4) at 2020 Doha
Johanna Konta	1–3	25%	0–2	0–1	1–0	Lost (2–6, 6–4, 3–6) at 2016 Stanford
Bianca Andreescu	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	Lost (6–7(3–7), 1–6) at 2019 Acapulco
Dominika Cibulková	0–1	0%	–	0–1	–	Lost (3–6, 1–6) at 2016 French Open
Samantha Stosur	0–1	0%	–	–	0–1	Lost (4–6, 5–7) at 2019 Mallorca
Number 5 ranked players
Eugenie Bouchard	1–2	33%	1–2	–	–	Won (7–6(7–1), 6–1) at 2016 Doha
Sara Errani	0–3	0%	0–3	–	–	Lost (5–7, 3–6) at 2016 Dubai
Daniela Hantuchová	0–2	0%	0–2	–	–	Lost (6–7(5–7), 2–6) at 2015 Pattaya
Lucie Šafářová	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	Lost (3–6, 6–4, 2–6) at 2014 US Open
Jeļena Ostapenko	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	Lost (4–6, 3–6) at 2016 Doha
Number 7 ranked players
Danielle Collins	2–1	67%	2–1	–	–	Lost (6–7(5–7), 1–6) at 2021 Adelaide
Madison Keys	1–1	50%	1–1	–	–	Won (6–4, 6–2) at 2019 WTA Elite Trophy
Roberta Vinci	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	Lost (0–6, 6–3, 3–6) at 2016 Beijing
Number 8 ranked players
Daria Kasatkina	0–3	0%	0–1	0–1	0–1	Lost (2–6, 4–6) at 2017 Wimbledon
Ekaterina Makarova	0–1	0%	–	0–1	–	Lost (4–6, 1–6) at 2018 French Open
Number 9 ranked players
Julia Görges	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	Lost (2–6, 1–6) at 2017 US Open
Veronika Kudermetova	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	Lost (0–5, ret.) at 2019 Tianjin
Andrea Petkovic	0–1	0%	–	–	0–1	Lost (7–5, 2–6, 4–6) at 2016 Eastbourne
Number 10 ranked players
Kristina Mladenovic	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	Lost (5–7, 2–6) at 2019 Indian Wells
Total	21–63	25%	19–42 (31%)	1–13 (7%)	1–8 (11%)	last updated 14 January 2023

Wins over top-10 players

More information #, Player ...

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score
2016
1.	Petra Kvitová	No. 6	Shenzhen Open	Hard	1R	6–2, ret.
2.	Angelique Kerber	No. 2	Qatar Ladies Open	Hard	2R	7–5, 6–1
3.	Agnieszka Radwańska	No. 5	Rio Olympics	Hard	1R	6–4, 7–5
2017
4.	Elina Svitolina	No. 10	Madrid Open	Clay	1R	2–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–3
2019
5.	Aryna Sabalenka	No. 10	Stanford Classic	Hard	F	6–3, 7–6(7–3)
2020
6.	Kiki Bertens	No. 6	Qatar Ladies Open	Hard	3R	3–6, 6–3, 6–4

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