The China Open is an annual ATP 500 and WTA 1000 hard-court tennis competition that takes place in Beijing, China. It is held at China’s National Tennis Center - the venue for the 2008 Olympics in the Olympic Green area of Beijing.
Although the China Open is an ATP and WTA event today, it was previously a men’s only competition for over a decade. The first edition was played in 1993, and the first women’s competition took place in 2004.
However, the original men’s competition was only held for a short period between 1993 and 1997 before it was removed from the ATP Tour. It returned in 2004 alongside the women’s competition and has been one of the biggest Asian-based competitions ever since.
The strong facilities at the previous venue of the Beijing Tennis Center and the modern National Tennis Centre mean that some of the best tennis players compete in the China Open each season. In the ATP event, no player has matched or beaten Novak Djokovic’s dominant spell, where he won six titles in seven years.
Between 2009 and 2015, the Serbian won all but one main draw at the China Open. Several other Grand Slam winners have won the China Open since 2004. Rafael Nadal has won the tournament twice, while Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem, and Andy Roddick also achieved success in Beijing.
The women’s tournament has seen more players win the title. Some of the most famous players to win the WTA China Open are Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki, who both won two titles.
More recently, the new generation has been victorious at the China Open. In 2019, Naomi Osaka beat former Australian player Ashleigh Barty in the final. Iga Swiatek also won her first-ever title here in 2023.
