RIYADH: China’s Zheng Qinwen reached the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Riyadh after claiming an impressive 6-1, 6-1 win over Italian fourth seed Jasmine Paolini on Wednesday.
In her WTA Finals debut, the 22-year-old became the youngest player to reach the semifinals since Petra Kvitova in 2011.
Seventh seed Zheng fired 12 aces in a dominant performance, recording her 30th win from 34 matches played since Wimbledon.
“It’s one of the best performances I had during this year,” she said on court.
“Really good percentage of first serves. I enjoyed a lot tonight to play here.”
Zheng won 77 per cent of her first-serve points as she became the second Chinese woman to reach the last four of the WTA Finals after Li Na.
“(This was) almost 11 years ago. I’m proud I could make it,” Zheng said.
“I didn’t know what would happen when I came here because it’s my first time. I just told myself to enjoy. Especially because I’m in a really difficult group. Thanks to all the fans who came to watch me tonight. Thanks for all your support.”
Coco Gauff earned her second victory over Iga Swiatek in 13 career matchups, winning 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals of the season-ending tournament on Monday night.
The result means that Swiatek can’t move up from No. 2 in the rankings this week, so Aryna Sabalenka will finish the year at No. 1 for the first time.
It was Gauff’s first victory over Swiatek since the 2023 Cincinnati Open, snapping a four-match losing skid head-to-head. Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, also put an end to five-time Grand Slam champ Swiatek’s six-match unbeaten run at the WTA Finals, an event the Polish star won a year ago. Agencies
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