In 2017, Chen reached the final of theSwiss Open and had to settle for second best after losing to the same opponent whom she defeated in Macau Open final in 2016, Chen Xiaoxin.[21] In the2017 BWF World Championships, the 19-year-old Chen participated as the 9th seed in the tournament. After defeatingPai Yu-po, the lower ranked Chinese Taipei's player in the first round, she set her meeting with the top seeded Akane Yamaguchi. She bulldozed her way through with the 21–18, 21–19 victory and stunned the world.[22] This was not over yet, in the quarter-final, she defeated another higher seeded player, the former world championRatchanok Intanon in 3 games and assured herself of first ever medal in this elite event. However, in the semi-final, she lost toP. V. Sindhu and had to satisfy herself with the bronze medal.[6] With her strong performances, she got a ticket to contest in the year-endingDubai World Superseries Finals. In the group stage, she lost toTai Tzu-ying (1–2) but won againstSung Ji-hyun (2–0) & Ratchanok Intanon (2–1) which meant she could confirm her place in the semifinal. But again, in the semi-finals, she lost to P. V. Sindhu in straight games.[23]
She contested in the2018 German Open final but lost toAkane Yamaguchi.[24] She won the silver medal at the2018 Badminton Asia Championships losing toTai Tzu-ying in straight games.[25] She fell to her 9th consecutive defeat against Tai Tzu-ying in the final of theIndonesia Open, in which she took the opening game but \wasn't sufficient to beat Tai and lost the next two.[26] In theWorld Championships, she failed to cross the quarter-final after being downed by Akane Yamaguchi, a player Chen defeated last year in straight games.[27] Akane Yamaguchi again proved difficult for Chen to crack, this time at theAsian games where she lost to her in quarter-finals.[28] In her second Super 1000 final at theChina Open, which is the highest level of World tour events in badminton, she lost to the reigning world champion,Carolina Marín, in straight games.[29] At the2018 Fuzhou China Open, a Super 750 event, she finally broke her jinx of losing in the finals after defeatingNozomi Okuhara tamely with 21–10, 21–16, and thus winning her first ever World tour title.[30] She again qualified for taking part in the season-ending championships, this time renamed as the "World Tour Finals", which was held in her home country China. In the 1st match of the group stage againstRatchanok Intanon, she injured herself in the deciding game and lost the match. She wasn't recovered from that yet but she played the 2nd match against the CanadianMichelle Li & again lost. In the final group match, she twisted her ankle in the very early stage of 1st game which forced her to retire and her overall campaign ended.[31]
2019 proved the best ever year in Chen Yufei's career as she earned multiple titles and honour of becoming the most dominant player of 2019 in her category. Starting with the2019 All England Open, she defeatedTai Tzu-ying in the final, a player she struggled to beat in her last 11 encounters. Chen finally broke that jinx and won her first super 1000 title.[32] After that, she won theSwiss Open title following her win againstSaena Kawakami in the final clash.[33] She competed in the2019 Badminton Asia Championships as a top seed after defending champion Tai withdrew from the tournament. She made her way to the semifinal and was discomfited byAkane Yamaguchi (1–2), thus claiming the bronze medal.[34] In the2019 Sudirman Cup, she helped her team to win the record-breaking 11th title, in which she scored a point by defeating Akane Yamaguchi, and eventually Japan was crushed in the final with 3–0 tally by China.[35] Her best form wasn't dipped yet, as she claimed the next title in theAustralian Open by totally outplayingNozomi Okuhara in the final with a very one-sided scoreline 21–15, 21–3.[36] She claimed theThailand Open title victory by winning againstRatchanok Intanon.[37]
With all her success in 1st half of the year, she was considered as China's best contender for gold in2019 BWF World Championships in her category. She started well, winning againstPornpawee Chochuwong in round 1,Michelle Li in 2nd round in 3 games. In the quarter-final, she was tested severely by DanishMia Blichfeldt who once appeared to create an upset by leading 15–12 against her in the decider, but Chen's persistence led her way to the victory and assured her of second medal in this Grade 1 event. In the semifinal her opponent wasP. V. Sindhu who had outplayed her in the 2017 World Championships. Chen again proved low against Sindhu in World Championships and was defeated with a big margin 7–21, 14–21. Thus, she again settled for a bronze medal.[38] Leaving her disappointments, she returned very strong and again won series of titles. She won the2019 Fuzhou China Open again, by beating the same opponent from the last year, Nozomi Okuhara, but this time with tougher opposition.[39] After beating Ratchanok Intanon in the final, she won her 6th World tour title by winning theHong Kong open.[40] Going into the2019 BWF World Tour Finals as the best title winning contender, in the group stage, she downed all her opponents P. V. Sindhu (2–1), Akane Yamaguchi (2–0) andHe Bingjiao (2–0) to reach the semifinal. She was drawn with Yamaguchi yet again and she displayed a very dominant performance to reach the final.[41] In the final, she showed a great fighting spirit to beat Tai Tzu-ying after being a game down and won the title 12–21, 21–12, 21–17. With her emphatic 7 titles in the year, she became another player from China to become World no. 1 player, as the last time China had the World's top player in Women's singles was in 2015 (Li Xuerui).[10]
Reaching the final yet again, this time at the2020 Malaysia Masters, she maintained her unbeaten record at the finals since 2018 Fuzhou China Open, and outgunnedTai Tzu-ying for the title in straight games.[42] She reached her second consecutive2020 All England Open final and faced opposition from the same rival of last year, Tai Tzu-ying. This time she suffered defeat, and was dethroned from the World no. 1 position.[43]
Chen competed at the2020 Summer Olympics as the number one seed in the women's singles.[44] In the final, she beatTai Tzu-ying in an extremely intense match 21–18, 19–21, 21–18 to win the gold medal.[1] In October, she helped the Chinese national team to retain theSudirman Cup.[45]
Chen reached the final of theAll England Open but lost toAn Se-young in a tight three-game battle.[55] She suffered the same fate against An inAsian Championships in Dubai, losing in semifinals and bringing back another bronze.[56] Later, she did flipped the script by helping the national team defend theSudirman Cup title at home soil after delivering the final win against An Se-young in straight games.[57] In June'sIndonesia Open, she defeated another Olympic championCarolina Marin in straight games to win her first title since last year'sIndonesia Masters.[58] She participated at theWorld Championships but could only settle for a bronze medal as she was defeated byAn Se-young in straight games.[59] After helping the national team to win a silver medal at thewomen's team event at the delayed 2022 Asian Games,[60] she was defeated by An in the final of thesingles event in three games, earning another silver medal.[12] Two weeks later, she won theDenmark Open by defeating Marin again in straight games.[61] Chen continued that great form for another week by snatching theFrench Open title against Tai Tzu-ying.[62] In November, Chen lost the final of the inaugural edition ofJapan Masters at the hands of Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in straight sets.[63] The next week, she redeemed herself inChina Masters againstHan Yue where the final went to the rubber in which Han had to retire due to leg injury.[64]
Chen's first final in the season is inIndia Open where she lost against Tai Tzu-ying in straight sets.[65] Chen also lost the second final ofAsian Championships in her career to her junior compatriot,Wang Zhiyi this time around.[66] In April, Chen helped China to regain theUber Cup title after losing it back in 2022.[67] Chen continued her losing streak for the world tour this year inSingapore Open in the hands of An Se-young[68] but she ended the streak by winning theIndonesia Open, also against An.[69] Going into Olympics, Chen coming in as the reigning champion and won all her matches in group stage. She got a bye in the next round but later fallen short to He Bingjiao in quarter finals, thus failed to defend her crown.[70] After Chen's defeat in the quarter-finals of the2024 Olympic Games, she made the decision to take a break from competitive badminton. During her time away, she spent 10 weeks in Australia studying English and regained her motivation.[71]
Chen is a member of2025 Sudirman Cup China team that manage to win it for the four times in a row since 2019.[77] Chen continuing her uprising form since comeback by winning the2025 Thailand Open against home favourite and number 1 seed,Pornpawee Chochuwong.[78] Two weeks later, Chen prevailed in2025 Singapore Open, over Wang Zhiyi in straight sets.[79] In July, Chen got knocked out by An in the quarterfinals for two successive tournaments (Japan Open andChina Open)[80][81] but her luck changed the next week when she won2025 Macau Open, nine years after she won it first time back in 2016.[82]
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[85] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by theBadminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the BWF World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[86]
^Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018)."Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation.Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved15 January 2018.