China Open: Paula Badosa beats Zhang Shuai to reach Beijing semis

Beijing: No. 15 seed Spaniard Paula Badosa defeated wild card Zhang Shuai in the China Open quarterfinals, coming from 3-1 down to triumph 6-1, 7-6(4) here on Thursday.

 Badosa advanced to her third semifinal in her past five tournaments, and has now won 28 of her last 35 matches from mid-May.

She marked her career eighth WTA 1000-level quarterfinal on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-0 rout of No.2 seed and US Open finalist Jessica Pegula and became the fourth Spaniard to reach the quarterfinals of the China Open after Anabel Medina Garrigues, Carla Suarez Navarro and Garbine Muguruza, who did so in 2015.

This time last year, Badosa was ranked outside the Top 50 and dropped quickly as she was sidelined with a back injury. In May this year, she was ranked No.140, but in just four months, she has re-established herself in the Top 20. A title this week in China could even see the Spaniard return to the Top 10 for the first time since 2022.

Former World No.2 Badosa’s run this week marks her fifth semifinal at WTA 1000 level and second of the season, after Cincinnati 2024. She only reached multiple WTA 1000 semifinals in her career once previously: in 2021, when she reached the last four in Madrid and then won Indian Wells, the biggest title of her career to date.

She also made the last four at Madrid 2021, Indian Wells 2022, according to WTA stats.

Sixth-ranked Coco Gauff again made a slow start and had to rally to beat Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 to make the China Open semifinals on Thursday.

The No. 115-ranked Yuliia Starodubtseva had not lost a set in her three matches this week and quickly took the lead, making 10 winners and holding Gauff to zero in an error-strewn first set for the American.

Gauff also lost the first set against Naomi Osaka in the previous round before Osaka retired because of a lower back injury. The American helped to carry Osaka’s bags off the court.

Former U.S. Open champion Gauff needed to find a response against Starodubtseva and saved two break points in her opening service game of the second set. A service break propelled Gauff ahead 3-1.

After another narrow escape on her next service game, Gauff lost only three more games for the rest of the match. Agencies

Also Read: China Open: Aryna Sabalenka reaches quarterfinals, equals career-best win streak

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