With the China Open underway this week, the Asian swing is officially heating up—and tennis’s top stars are celebrating in style.
On Wednesday evening, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, and more glammed up for an elegant reception gala, blending Chinese culture with a fashion-forward twist.
The event, held at the National Convention Center in Beijing, carried the theme ”Wonderful Night,” combining “the poetry of traditional gardens with the vitality of modern trends.”
The evening also doubled as a cultural exchange, with players engaging in interactive activities like traditional tea art demonstrations and the delicate craft of “velvet flower”—along with fun Q&A games that quickly found their way onto social media.
Adding to the glamour, the players stepped in front of fashion photographer Mario Wang’s lens for sleek headshots and full-body portraits.
Wang—whose work has appeared in Elle, W Magazine, and Dior’s campaign featuring Chinese No. 1 Zheng Qinwen—has already seen his China Open photos shared across tournament channels and beyond.
They’ve also been popular on Chinese social media platform RedNote, where fans have been giving the players tongue-in-cheek nicknames based on the portraits: Swiatek was dubbed a “motivational speaker,” Naomi Osaka looked like a “Sephora sales associate” and Zverev earned the moniker of “the CEO’s son-in-law.” The playful takes have sparked plenty of online chatter.
As for the tennis, Beijing is a WTA 1000 event for the women and an ATP 500 for the men—the last combined tournament of 2025. Play kicked off on Wednesday, with top seed Sinner beginning his campaign on Thursday with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 win over Marin Cilic.