Shenzhen teen wins US Open junior title, earns China Open wildcard

Sun Xinran holds the US Open girls’ singles trophy after defeating Anna Pushkareva in the final in New York on Sept. 12. Photos by Xinhua 

Shenzhen-born tennis player Sun Xinran captured her first junior Grand Slam singles title at the US Open on Saturday and, hours later, received a wildcard into the 2026 China Open, where the 16-year-old will make her WTA 1000 main-draw debut.

Top-seeded Sun defeated No. 5 seed Anna Pushkareva 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 in the girls’ singles final in New York, finally converting a breakthrough season into a major title after finishing runner-up at both the French Open and Wimbledon.

China Open organizers announced Sunday afternoon that Sun, the junior girls’ world No. 1, had been awarded a main-draw wildcard for this year’s tournament in Beijing.

The invitation will give Sun an early chance to test herself against players from the top level of the women’s game. The China Open women’s event is a WTA 1000 tournament, one of the highest tiers on the WTA Tour below the Grand Slams and the season-ending WTA Finals.

Sun Xinran is featured in a China Open poster announcing her entry into the 2026 WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing.  

For Sun, the Beijing appearance will also mark another step in her transition out of junior tennis.

“I think this is only the first step,” Sun said after her US Open victory. “I’m almost graduating from juniors, and my focus will move to professional tournaments.”

The China Open is scheduled to run from Sept. 28 to Oct. 11 at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, with the WTA 1000 women’s competition and ATP 500 men’s event beginning Sept. 28. The women’s singles final is scheduled for Oct. 11.

Sun is no stranger to the tournament. She finished runner-up in the girls’ singles event at the China Open’s ITF junior competition in 2024 and won the girls’ doubles title there in 2025. This autumn, however, she will step into the women’s main draw for the first time.

Third time lucky in a Grand Slam final

Sun’s US Open triumph came after three consecutive appearances in junior Grand Slam singles finals — on the clay of Roland Garros, the grass of Wimbledon and the hard courts of New York.

Saturday’s victory also delivered a measure of redemption against Pushkareva, who defeated Sun 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the Wimbledon final two months earlier.

Sun Xinran hits a backhand during the US Open junior tournament in New York on Sept. 12. 

This time, after Pushkareva leveled the match by taking the second set, Sun responded emphatically, winning the deciding set without dropping a game.

Sun said she had become too passive while ahead in the second set and resolved to attack again in the third.

“The second set didn’t go very smoothly. Maybe because I was leading, my shots became a little softer,” she said. “In the third set, I wanted to be aggressive again. No matter what happened, I had to go for the match and stick with the tactics I had planned.”

She said the Wimbledon defeat also helped her handle difficult moments in New York.

“The match was still very difficult, but compared with Wimbledon, I was more resilient and adjusted more quickly,” Sun said. “In the first game of the third set, I felt I was almost at my limit, but I kept encouraging myself. I’m very happy that I was able to win in the end.”

From Shenzhen courts to junior world No. 1

Born in Shenzhen in 2010, Sun began playing tennis at age 6 after being introduced to the sport through her family.

Her rise accelerated in recent years. The Shenzhen native reached the Australian Open junior quarterfinals at the start of this season before breaking through on clay.

Sun Xinran stretches for a return during the Roland Garros junior tournament in Paris in June 2026.

At Roland Garros in June, Sun advanced to the girls’ singles final before finishing runner-up. The result helped lift her to No. 1 in the ITF junior girls’ rankings.

She followed that run with another final at Wimbledon, becoming the first Chinese player to reach the girls’ singles finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year.

New York completed an unusual sweep of surfaces: Sun reached junior Grand Slam finals on clay, grass and hard court in the same season, and this time she left with the trophy.

Her US Open victory also made her the first Chinese player to win the tournament’s junior girls’ singles title since Wang Xiyu in 2018.

Now the focus shifts quickly from juniors to the professional tour.

China’s Zheng Qinwen has also confirmed her place in the 2026 China Open main draw after reaching the US Open quarterfinals. Sun’s wildcard means the Shenzhen teenager will have the chance to compete on the same WTA 1000 stage in Beijing as established players from China and abroad.