Olympic champion An Seyoung of South Korea once again underlined her supremacy in world badminton, sweeping aside China’s Wang Zhiyi 2–0 (21–13, 21–7) to clinch the 2025 French Open women’s singles title on Sunday.
The victory gave the 23-year-old her third French Open crown, following wins in 2019 and 2024, and her ninth international title of the season— matching her own record for the most women’s singles victories in a single BWF World Tour year.
An Seyoung’s Dominant Display in the Final
An, ranked world No. 1, was in imperious form throughout the 42-minute final. The opening game saw both players trade points early before An edged ahead 11–9 at the interval. From there, she tightened her control, pulling away with a five-point burst to take the first game 21–13.
In the second, the Korean star unleashed her trademark speed and precision, racing to an 11–3 lead at the break and never looking back. Wang, the world No. 2, struggled to contain An’s relentless pace and could add only four more points before falling 21–7.
The result extended An’s head-to-head record over Wang to 15–4, including six consecutive finals victories in 2025 alone. The Chinese shuttler has yet to defeat An in a championship match this year.
European Dominance and Season of Records
An’s French Open triumph comes just two weeks after she won the Denmark Open, another BWF Super 750 event, marking back-to-back European titles. On her way to the French crown, she survived a grueling 87-minute semifinal battle against fifth-ranked Chen Yufei of China, winning 2–1 after dropping the opening game.
With the victory in France, An has now claimed nine titles in 13 tournaments this year, including:
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Three Super 1000 titles— Malaysia Open, All England Open, Indonesia Open
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Five Super 750 titles— India Open, Japan Open, China Open, Denmark Open, French Open
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One Super 300 title— Orléans Masters
The Korean sensation is now closing in on the all-time BWF single-season record of 11 titles, set by Japan’s Kento Momota in 2019. She will aim to surpass that mark at the Australian Open next month and the World Tour Finals in December.
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A Rivalry Tilting One Way
For Wang Zhiyi, the defeat marked another frustrating chapter in what Chinese fans have dubbed “An Se-young phobia.” Despite being ranked world No. 2 and winning three titles this season— the Malaysia Masters, China Open, and Hong Kong Open— Wang has consistently faltered in finals against the Korean star.
“Every time An steps on court, her control and defense force her opponents into errors,” said a BWF commentator after the match. “She’s playing with the confidence and dominance we last saw from Momota in his prime.”
