Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the WTA Beijing match.
Mirra Andreeva often struggles with crowd pressure, as shown by defeats to Loïs Boisson at Roland-Garros and Taylor Townsend at the US Open. She now faces a home player. Lin Zhu steps up markedly in class after reaching the Guiyang final. Although she beat a top-100 opponent in the opening round in Beijing, this will not be straightforward against the Russian.
Mirra Andreeva
Mirra Andreeva was eliminated from her last two events, Montreal and the US Open. However, she reached the semi-finals in Beijing last year. At this tournament she often goes to three sets, with four of her last five matches here finishing in a deciding set. In recent months she has played sparingly, entering only the bigger events, and at WTA 1000 level in 2025 she has one second-round elimination, losing to Rebecca Šramková in Doha (that was before the titles in Dubai and Indian Wells). Under pressure, Andreeva either retreats into her shell or gets carried away emotionally, and having flown to Beijing early for Nike exhibition matches, the Russian has had a rare, proper training block.
Lin Zhu
World No. 253 Lin Zhu, a former world No. 31, is showing signs of revival: she reached the Guiyang final last week and swept past Moyuka Uchijima (6:1, 6:3) in the Beijing first round. In her last seven hard-court matches she has won at least 10 games. On this surface Lin is landing 70% of first serves. Despite the low ranking, the Chinese is capable of making life difficult, especially on home courts.
Mirra Andreeva vs Lin Zhu Prediction
Mirra Andreeva finds it hard to manage her emotions, and against Lin Zhu under pressure from the home crowd she is likely to suffer. The Chinese may not win, but she should make it competitive and stay within a comfortable games handicap.
