Zheng Qinwen will head into her WTA Finals debut on a winning streak after winning her third title of the year in Tokyo.

No. 1 seed Zheng of China secured the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis with a hard-fought 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over American wildcard Sofia Kenin in the final of the WTA 500 tournament on Sunday. Trophy.

Tokyo: scores | Pulls

World No. 7 Zheng needed 1 hour and 52 minutes to prevail in her first career meeting with 2020 Australian Open champion Kenin to claim her first hardcourt title of the season. It is Hologic's fifth WTA Tour singles title in her distinguished career.

On the road to success: Zheng had already won two clay court titles this year: she won the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris and successfully defended her title in Palermo. But it was the Chinese No. 1's first hardcourt title since she lifted the trophy in Zhengzhou just over a year ago.

Zheng now has a win-loss record of 8-1 at the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis. In her only previous appearance in Tokyo in 2022, she reached her first career WTA singles final, finishing second to Liudmila Samsonova.

By going one step further in her second appearance in Tokyo, Zheng extends her exceptional performance in the second half of this season. She has a 28-4 record since Wimbledon, including a 12-2 run in the Asian swing.

Zheng had already achieved new milestones during this year's autumn track. In her home country of China, she reached her first WTA 1000 semi-final of her career in Beijing and reached her first WTA 1000 final a week later in Wuhan.

Having started this year by reaching the Australian Open final, Zheng's strong end-of-season form helped her secure one of the last remaining singles spots at the year-end WTA Finals in Riyadh. The prestigious Hologic WTA Tour season finale begins on Saturday, November 2nd.

History of the game: Zheng was nearly flawless while serving in Sunday's final, where she was never broken and had just a single break point. This year's ace leader on tour, Zheng, hit an incredible 16 aces on Sunday, raising her 2024 total to 406.

Nonetheless, former world No. 4 Kenin gave Zheng all she could in the opening set as the American sought her first title since her breakthrough 2020 season. Kenin bravely erased all five break points she faced in the first set, forcing Zheng into the tiebreak.

But Zheng was up to the task and broke the break with a forehand winner after 67 minutes. Zheng won 100 percent of her first serve points in the first frame (21 against 21), depriving Kenin of any chance of getting into a return match.

Kenin got her only break point at 4-2 in the second set, but Zheng destroyed it with a huge serve that wasn't returned. With the score at 5-3, Zheng secured the championship point with a clever reflex volley and secured the victory after a Kenin shot flew narrowly wide.

There's more to come…