Wang Qiang (tennis)
Wang Qiang is a Chinese professional tennis player. She has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, one singles title on the WTA 125K series, and 13 singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Circuit. Her best result at a Grand Slam tournament came at the 2019 US Open where she reached the quarterfinals. On 9 September 2019, Wang reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 12, becoming the second-highest ranked Chinese tennis player in history after Li Na.
Career
At age nine, Wang started playing tennis. That year, she became the promotion player for the Tianjin National Tennis Center. For two years consecutively, she won the Junior's Tennis Championship in China. She officially started touring the ITF Women's Circuit in Japan as of 2007.In February 2010, she was a main draw at the AOAO Sports charity themed 'Fiji Tennis Invitation Classis' created by Ademola Oduwole on Denarau Island in Fiji aimed at promoting girls sports. She defeated Christina Visico of the Philippines in the finals to win her $2000 purse and a $4000 Chris Aire watch donated by the Hollywood Luxury watch designer
Wang achieved her first big circuit win at the 2013 Malaysian Open where, after qualifying, she beat top seed and world No. 10 Caroline Wozniacki in the first round.
She made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the 2014 US Open from the qualifying tournament, and defeated Paula Kania of Poland in the first round by 6–2, 6–0, before losing to Australian Casey Dellaqua in the second round.
2018: Asian Games gold medalist, two WTA titles, world No. 20
Wang won the golden medal in singles at the Asian Games defeating Jeong Su-nam, Gozal Ainitdinova, Aldila Sutjiadi, Liang En-shuo, and finally compatriot Zhang Shuai in the final.Wang also had a great run in the Asian Swing. She won her first WTA tour tile in July at Jiangxi, where she defeated Zheng Saisai in the final. She then won her second title in September at Guangzhou, where she didn't drop more than four games in each match throughout the tournament. As a result of her Guangzhou triumph, she reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 34 and replaced Zhang Shuai as the highest-ranked Chinese player.
The next week, she competed at the Premier-5 tournament in Wuhan, where she defeated Maria Sakkari, eighth seed Karolína Plíšková, and Daria Gavrilova in the first three matches. In the quarterfinals, she defeated 2016 Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig in straight sets to reach the semifinals, but was forced to retire from the match against Anett Kontaveit due to injury. She became the first ever Chinese player to reach the semifinals at the tournament, and reached another new career-high ranking of No. 28.
Wang received a wild card into the China Open in Beijing. As a Wuhan Open semifinalist, she received a first-round bye. She defeated the 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the second round by 6–0, 6–0. In the third round, she defeated Karolína Plíšková for the second time in consecutive weeks in straight sets. In the quarterfinal, she defeated Wuhan champion Aryna Sabalenka in two very tight sets. Her run ended in the semifinal, at the hands of former world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki. However, her semifinal result earned her a new career-high ranking of No. 24.
Wang was seeded sixth in Hong Kong. She defeated Zhang Ling and Christina McHale to reach the quarterfinals, where she faced top seed Elina Svitolina. Wang took a decisive lead quickly, taking the first set 6–2 and was leading 5–2 in the second when the match was suspended for the night due to a sudden downpour. She closed out the set 6–4 the next day, advancing to the semifinal. In the semifinal she defeated fourth seed Garbiñe Muguruza in three sets, coming back from a 1–4 deficit in the third to win 7–5. In her third final of the year, Wang was defeated by 18-year-old Dayana Yastremska in straight sets. On 22 October, she reached a new career-high ranking of No. 22.
She was awarded a wild card to enter the WTA Elite Trophy, but with withdrawals from both Serena Williams and Jelena Ostapenko, she qualified for the main draw with her ranking. In her first round-robin match, she lost to Daria Kasatkina in three sets. She then played Madison Keys, winning the match in three sets 1–6, 6–3, 6–1. Later, Keys, as the winner of the group, announced her withdrawal due to a knee injury, allowing the second-placed Wang to play the semifinal match against Muguruza, where she won in straight sets 6–2, 6–0. In the final, she was defeated by Ashleigh Barty. Her performance in Zhuhai saw her break the top 20 for the first time, and ensured she would end the year as world No. 20.
2019: First Grand Slam quarterfinal, career-high ranking
Seeded 21st at the Australian Open, Wang defeated Fiona Ferro and Aleksandra Krunić, and then lost to 13th seed Anastasija Sevastova. This was her best performance to date at the tournament. At Indian Wells, she defeated 16th seed Elise Mertens and reached the fourth round, losing to eventual champion Bianca Andreescu. In Miami, she reached her first quarterfinal at a Premier Mandatory event, where she lost to second seed Simona Halep. At the Prague Open, she was seeded third, reaching the quarterfinals and then lost to Bernarda Pera. Wang failed to advance past the second round at any tournament during the clay-court season, losing in the first round at Madrid and Rome, and losing in the second round at Strasbourg and the French Open.At the Birmingham Classic, she defeated Lauren Davis and then lost to Venus Williams in the second round. She subsequently withdrew from the Eastbourne International. At Wimbledon, she was seeded 15th. She defeated Vera Lapko and Tamara Zidanšek, and then lost to Elise Mertens in the third round. This was her best result at the tournament to date.
She achieved a series of new career-high rankings over the course of the year, achieving the world No. 15 ranking prior to Wimbledon.
At the US Open, Wang was seeded 18th. She defeated Caroline Dolehide, Alison Van Uytvanck, and Fiona Ferro to advance to the second week of a Grand Slam event for the first time. She then upset tournament favorite and world No. 2, Ashleigh Barty in the fourth round, her first victory over a top-three player, to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. She became just the fifth Chinese player in history, after Li Na, Zheng Jie, Peng Shuai, and Zhang Shuai, to reach a Grand Slam singles quarterfinal, and the third to do so at the US Open, after Li and Peng. However, she heavily lost to eventual runner-up Serena Williams in straight sets, winning just one game. After the tournament, she rose six places to reach another new career high of world No. 12, becoming the second-highest ranked Chinese singles player in history.
Wang struggled following the US Open though, managing just two match wins on the Asian hard-courts, one in Wuhan and the other in Tianjin. After failing to qualify or receive a wild card for the WTA Elite Trophy, she finished the year ranked world No. 29, her second consecutive year inside the top 30.
2020
Wang opened her new season with a quarterfinal appearance at the Shenzhen Open and a first-round loss to Angelique Kerber at the Adelaide International. Seeded 27th at the Australian Open, she defeated Pauline Parmentier and Fiona Ferro to reach the third round, where she pulled off a major upset by defeating eighth seed Serena Williams in three sets, avenging her lopsided loss to the American at the previous US Open. However, she was upset herself in the fourth round by the unseeded Tunisian Ons Jabeur.Performance timelines
Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.Singles
Current through the suspension of the 2020 WTA Tour.Notes
- WTA Tournament of Champions was held from 2009 to 2014, before WTA Elite Trophy replaced it.
- The first Premier-5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Total Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier-5 event from 2009–2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier-5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The two tournaments have since alternated status every year.
- In 2014, the Toray Pan Pacific Open was downgraded to a Premier event and replaced by the Wuhan Open.
- 2006: WTA ranking–896,
2007: WTA ranking–778,
2008: WTA ranking–556,
2009: WTA ranking–363,
2010: WTA ranking–291.Significant finals
WTA Elite Trophy
Singles: 1 (1 runner–up)
WTA career finals
Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | 2018 Jiangxi International Women's Tennis Open – Singles| | Jiangxi Open, China | International | Hard | ||
| Win | 2–0 | 2018 Guangzhou International Women's Open – Singles| | Guangzhou Open, China | International | Hard |  Yulia Putintseva | 6–1, 6–2 |
| Loss | 2–1 | 2018 Hong Kong Tennis Open – Singles| | Hong Kong Open, China | International | Hard |  Dayana Yastremska | 2–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 2–2 | 2018 WTA Elite Trophy – Singles| | WTA Elite Trophy, China | Elite Trophy | Hard |  Ashleigh Barty | 3–6, 4–6 |
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | 2017 Hong Kong Tennis Open – Doubles| | Hong Kong Open, China | International | Hard |  Lu Jiajing |  Chan Hao-ching Chan Yung-jan | 1–6, 1–6 |
WTA 125 series finals
Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 18 (13 titles, 5 runner–ups)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Win | 1–0 | Nov 2010 | ITF Hyogo, Japan | 10,000 | Carpet |  Yurina Koshino | 6–1, 6–4 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Jun 2011 | ITF Balikpapan, Indonesia | 25,000 | Hard |  Varatchaya Wongteanchai | 5–7, 3–6 |
| Win | 2–1 | Mar 2012 | ITF Sanya, China | 25,000 | Hard | Han Xinyun | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Win | 3–1 | 2012 Beijing International Challenger – Women's Singles| | ITF Beijing, China | 75,000 | Hard | Chan Yung-jan | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Win | 4–1 | Dec 2012 | ITF Bangkok, Thailand | 10,000 | Hard | Nungnadda Wannasuk | 6–2, 6–1 |
| Win | 5–1 | Dec 2012 | ITF Bangkok, Thailand | 10,000 | Hard | Xin Wen | 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 5–2 | 2013 ITF Women's Circuit – Wenshan – Singles| | ITF Wenshan, China | 50,000 | Hard | Zhang Yuxuan | 6–1, 6–7, 2–6 |
| Loss | 5–3 | 2013 Kangaroo Cup – Singles| | ITF Gifu, Japan | 50,000 | Hard |  An-Sophie Mestach | 6–1, 3–6, 0–6 |
| Win | 6–3 | Feb 2014 | ITF New Delhi, India | 25,000 | Hard | Yuliya Beygelzimer | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Win | 7–3 | 2014 Kurume Best Amenity Cup – Singles| | ITF Kurume, Japan | 50,000 | Grass | Eri Hozumi | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Win | 8–3 | May 2014 | ITF Tianjin, China | 25,000 | Hard | Zhu Lin | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 9–3 | 2014 ITF Women's Circuit – Wuhan – Singles| | ITF Wuhan, China | 50,000 | Hard | Luksika Kumkhum | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 10–3 | Jul 2015 | ITF Bangkok, Thailand | 25,000 | Hard | Zhang Kailin | 6–2, 6–4 |
| Loss | 10–4 | Jul 2015 | ITF Tianjin, China | 25,000 | Hard | Duan Yingying | 6–4, 6–7, 0–3 ret. |
| Win | 11–4 | 2016 Blossom Cup – Singles| | ITF Quanzhou, China | 50,000 | Hard | Liu Fangzhou | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 12–4 | Apr 2016 | ITF Shenzhen, China | 50,000 | Hard | Mayo Hibi | 6–2, 6–0 |
| Loss | 12–5 | 2016 Kangaroo Cup – Singles| | ITF Gifu, Japan | 75,000 | Hard | Hiroko Kuwata | 2–6, 6–2, 4–6 |
| Win | 13–5 | 2016 ITF Women's Circuit – Wuhan – Singles| | ITF Wuhan, China | 50,000 | Hard | Luksika Kumkhum | 7–5, 6–2 |
Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Sep 2010 | ITF Makinohara, Japan | 25,000 | Carpet | Kao Shao-yuan | Lu Jiajing Lu Jiaxiang | 5–7, 6–1, |
| Win | 1–1 | Oct 2010 | ITF Taipei, Taiwan | 10,000 | Hard | Kao Shao-yuan | Juan Ting-fei Zheng Saisai | 6–3, 7–6 |