In WTA tennis news, the normally stoic Belinda Bencic had angry words directed at Coco Gauff and her team during their China Open Round of 16 match.
Bencic fell behind Gauff early but worked her way back into the match with the fireworks happening in the middle of the second set.
At that time, Bencic vented her irritation that Gauff’s team was cheering as Bencic prepared to serve. She complained to the chair umpire and to Gauff. Gauff responded by stating the obvious that the stadium was empty and that everyone was being respectful.
Tense moment between Belinda Bencic and Coco Gauff in Beijing 🤯pic.twitter.com/Gztx0wwdWN
— FirstSportz Tennis (@FS_Tennis1) September 30, 2025
Bencic said to Gauff during a changeover that she is “too old for these mind games.” To be clear, Gauff’s team and Gauff were not doing anything extraordinary. Bencic’s anger derailed her game and fueled Gauff’s. Gauff won the match in three sets, and for those monitoring postmatch net handshakes, theirs was cordial.
Can’t count out Coco 😤😤
Gauff fight back to defeat Bencic in Beijing!#2025ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/gD8SMAD14B
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) September 30, 2025
With the win, Gauff clinches her spot in November’s WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She is the defending WTA Finals champion.
Qinwen Zheng Sparks Concern
This time of year is filled with injuries and retirements on both the ATP and WTA tours.
Yesterday, we noted that Barbora Krejcikova and Paula Badosa were dealing with health issues.
Today, we are talking about Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng.
Zheng came out in stellar form at the China Open after skipping the US Open hardcourt series over the summer while recovering from elbow surgery. However, she had to retire from her third round match against Linda Noskova with what looked like issues with that same elbow.
Zheng Qinwen retires injured with the score at 6-4, 3-6, 3-0 to Linda Noskova, in just her second match since returning after surgery.
She still has elbow pain unfortunately.
Get well soon! pic.twitter.com/QlQPTTlznN
— 👑 QINWEN ♥️ ZHENG 🇨🇳 🅄🄿🄳🄰🅃🄴🅂 (@zheng_qinwen_up) September 29, 2025
Hopefully Zheng is back at full health soon, but this is a tough break for her especially when she worked so hard to come back for her home tournament.
