Beijing: Mertens beats Gauff 6-3 6-3, into the quarter-finals

Another big name has fallen in Beijing. Elise Mertens beat Cori Gauff 6-3 6-3 in the round of 16 at the China Open, a WTA 1000 on hard courts, and booked a place in the quarter-finals. It is the Belgian's first win over the American, who sits third in the live rankings: according to the WTA, after losing the first five of their six meetings.

The match went Mertens' way from the first set. It ended 6-3 with a break in the last game, the one in which Gauff made four of her eight double faults. The American finished with 34 unforced errors, too many to come back against a player as solid as the Belgian.

In the second set Mertens quickly moved to 4-1. At 4-1 she held a long service game, with two deuces, which effectively decided the match. From there she managed it to 6-3, winning 10 of the last 11 points on her serve and closing with an ace.

Mertens explained how she read the match. "I kind of felt like she was dropping a bit in energy," she said. She then added, according to the WTA: "I tried to push myself. But I know she's a great competitor. It's never done against her."

Gauff, too, told her team courtside that she had "no energy" when she was down 4-1 in the second set, again according to the WTA's report. What the numbers show is a day well below her usual level, with errors and double faults, and no need to look for any other explanation.

The result matters in the rankings. Gauff is No.3 in the live WTA rankings with 6,974 points, but she has lost 270 since the start of the tournament: in 2025 she reached the semi-final in Beijing, worth 390 points, while this year's round of 16 is worth 120. Ahead of her is Aryna Sabalenka (No.2), 901 points clear; behind her is Jessica Pegula (No.4), 99 away. Elena Rybakina stays on top with 9,837.

For Mertens the picture is the opposite. With 2,484 points the Belgian is No.15 live, 319 points up on the start of the tournament and nine places higher than on 16 July 2026. Victoria Mboko (No.14) is 36 points ahead and Sorana Cirstea (No.16) is 21 behind. If she wins her quarter-final she will reach 2,659 points; with the title she would climb to 3,269. Over the next six weeks she has only 30 points to defend.

Mertens' route in Beijing has been far from easy. In the second round she beat Katie Volynets 6-0 4-6 7-5, then in the third she knocked out Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 3-6 6-3. Against Gauff came her first win in straight sets: three victories in all, two of them in a deciding set, and not a single set dropped to the American.

The head-to-head told a different story. In our site's records, which grow over time, Gauff's wins before today numbered four: in the round of 16 at Roland Garros 2022 by 6-4 6-0, in the third round of the 2023 US Open by 3-6 6-3 6-0, in the round of 16 at Indian Wells 2024 by 6-0 6-2. The only truly close meeting was at Eastbourne 2021, third round, won by Gauff 0-6 7-6(4) 7-5. With the Beijing match, the record on the site is now 4-1 for the American.

Gauff's season, meanwhile, remains very strong. In 2026 she reached the semi-final at Wimbledon and in Toronto, and won the Cincinnati Open, beating Jessica Pegula 6-2 6-4 in the final. At the US Open she beat Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals 2-6 7-6(7) 6-2 before losing to Rybakina in the semi-finals 3-6 6-4 6-4. In her last 30 matches she has 25 wins and 5 defeats; in the last ten, 8 and 2. Beijing is the first tournament the site records after the US Open.

Mertens also arrived with a solid year behind her. This season she reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, the final in Monterrey, lost 6-4 0-6 6-3 to Diane Parry, and the quarter-finals in Singapore, where Maja Chwalinska stopped her 6-2 6-2. At the US Open she went out in the third round to Naomi Osaka, 6-3 3-6 7-5. In her last ten matches she has 7 wins and 3 defeats, and in the last 30 she has won 19. In 2025 she finished with 33 wins, 21 defeats and two titles.

The tournament context shows how open the draw is. The China Open is a WTA 1000 that began on 28 September, with 90 players from 32 countries, 11 of them American. So far 156 matches have been played, with 33 tie-breaks and 4 retirements. In 2025 the title went to Amanda Anisimova, who beat Linda Noskova in the final 6-0 2-6 6-2.

The list of champions shows that Gauff knows this tournament well: she won it in 2024, beating Karolina Muchova 6-1 6-3, while in 2023 Iga Swiatek triumphed over Liudmila Samsonova 6-2 6-2. This year the top half of the draw emptied early: in the third round Nikola Bartunkova eliminated Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 6-3.

The round of 16 produced a quarter-final line-up full of surprises. Swiatek beat Iva Jovic 6-1 6-3, Qinwen Zheng got past Alina Charaeva 6-1 2-6 6-4 and Elina Svitolina eliminated Ann Li 6-2 6-3. Andreeva got the better of Daria Snigur 6-2 6-2, Ekaterina Alexandrova of Noskova 6-2 6-2, Muchova of Osaka 7-5 1-6 7-6(7) and Bartunkova of Sinja Kraus 6-0 4-6 6-3.

Now Mertens faces her hardest test. In the quarter-finals, according to the WTA, she will play Iga Swiatek, who finished her round of 16 in two sets against Jovic. For the Belgian it is a chance to consolidate her climb in the rankings; for the Pole, a match to win to string together another round in a week that is overturning many forecasts.

For Gauff, a phase that needs careful handling begins. With 270 points fewer than at the start of the tournament, her gap to fourth-placed Pegula is only 99 points, and a single bad week can change the order behind her. As always in tennis, though, rankings are rebuilt one tournament at a time, and Mertens' run, at 30, is a sign that maturity pays.