China's Zheng Qiwnen finished as a runner-up in the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, on Sunday, losing both sets in tiebreaks to Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia after 2 hours and 51 minutes in their first ever encounter. 

Zheng, who recently rose to world No. 18, went down 7-6 (11), 7-6 (4) to miss out on what would have been the biggest title in her career in what was the longest straight sets match of the WTA season. 

The Chinese tennis hopeful, who was on a eight-match winning streak, failed to take three set points in the first-set tiebreaker, and lost five points in a row in the second one where she was leading 2-0. 

"The score was very close," Zheng said after the final. "Although I lost, my opponent actually played very well. I can only say that I tried my best."

"The audience in Zhuhai, you can see they really enjoy tennis and understand the rules. I can feel everyone's enthusiasm," she added. 

Meanwhile, the Brazilian 8th seed will rise to at least world No. 11 from No. 19 in the next edition of rankings after the season-ending Finals Tour in Cancun, having won the biggest title of her career which was also her first title above WTA 250 level as well as her first on hard court.

"Today I was trying to be as aggressive as I was during this week," Haddad Maia said. "My mentality was very important. I was trying to be patient in the moments things were not going the way that I wanted. It's a very special week for me. When I came to Asia, I had stitches in my fingers in the first round of Beijing and now I'm finishing the season with a trophy in my hands," she added. 

She suffered an early exit in the China Open earlier this month in Beijing, and went into the Zhuhai event with three defeats out of four matches played since injuring her hands.

Later on Sunday, she extended her victory in Zhuhai in the doubles final with Russia's Veronika Kudermetova against No. 2 seeds Miyu Kato of Japan and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 6-3, 6-3.

(Cover: Beatriz Haddad Maia (L) and Zheng Qinwen pose with their trophies after the WTA Elite Trophy women's singles final in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, October 29, 2023. /CFP)