Zheng Qinwen is through to the last four of the WTA Finals on her debut after producing a clinical win over Jasmine Paolini on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia.
Zheng, who is seeded seventh in the draw, stormed to a 6-1, 6-1, win over Paolini in the most one-sided match at the tournament so far. The Olympic champion has become only the second Chinese player to have ever reached the knockout stages of the tournament after Li Na. The victory comes two days after she disposed of former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in three sets. She is the first player from her country to beat multiple top 10 players at the same tournament since 2013.
“My performance was really well today,” Zheng told reporters.
“Finally, I showed up (produced) some tennis I really wanted to play, and I’m really happy to be in the semifinal in Riyadh for the first time.”
One area of her game Zheng says she has improved is her serve. Against Paolini, she won 23 out of her 30 first serves and now leads her 4-0 in their head-to-head.
“I finally feel that my serve begin to be a bit more consistent,” she said. “I remember in 2022 my serve also was quite strong. I don’t know why suddenly in 2023 my serve started to drop. In this tournament and the rest of this half year is the first time I’ve felt like the serve start to be back.”
At the age of 22, Zheng is the youngest player to reach the last four at the WTA Finals on their debut since Petra Kvitova in 2011.
Sabalenka also through despite defeat
Aryna Sabalenka’s final group match ended in defeat just 24 hours after it was confirmed she would be the year-end No.1.
The Belarussian secured the end-of-season honor as a result of Iga Swiatek’s loss on Tuesday. However, she has been brought back down to earth by Rybakina who won their encounter 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Handing the Kazkh only her second Tour-level win since the conclusion of Wimbledon after missing the entire Asian swing due to injury. The match was a dead rubber which meant its result had no impact on the tournament standings.
“This is something I have to learn, how to keep myself motivated and hungry and like being 100% on in these kind of matches when you’re already in the semis and the only motivation for you is points,” said Sabalenka.
“The first set I was really off and that’s something I have to fix before the semis.
“I mean, she just played incredible tennis, she was just going for her shots, everything was going in, and I was kind of like trying to stay in the game. I was trying to get that win.”
Meanwhile, Rybakina has now won six out of the last eight matches played against world No.1 players with Sabalenka being her 20th win over a top 10 player. However, the victory will not be enough to move her into the knockout stages after she lost her two opening matches earlier in the week.
“It was a tough match,” Rybakina said. “It’s nice to finish the year with at least one win against the world number one. She has all the chances to win.
“Every match I played here was a bit better. It’s not easy after such a long break. Today I served really well.”
Rybakina ends her season with a win-loss record of 42-11. Meanwhile, Zheng and Sabalenka will have to wait and see who they will play in the semi-finals.
Pegula out, kasatkina in
Away from the court, Jessica Pegula has been forced to withdraw from her final match due to a knee injury. The announcement comes after her straight sets losses to Coco Gauff and Barbora Krejcikova.
“I’ve just been kind of struggling with a little bit of an injury and for whatever reason, it kind of really flared up this week,” said Pegula.
“Not really sure why. In the few days before practice, it (her left knee) felt really, really good, but it started creeping up right before my first match, and just feel like I’m not feeling comfortable moving on court.”
Pegula was making her third consecutive appearance at the WTA Finals and was hoping to end 2024 on a high. This season she has won two WTA titles and was runner-up at the US Open.
Replacing the American in her upcoming match against Swiatek will be Russian alternate Daria Kasatkina. She has only won one out of her six previous meetings against the Pole. Kasatkina is set to become the first openly LGBT tennis player to play a tournament in Saudi Arabia. A country that draws its legal framework from Sharia (Islamic law) which forbids homosexuality.
Kasatkina and Swiatek’s match will take place on Thursday.
