Big-serving Zheng marches into last four of WTA Finals

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Big-serving Zheng marches into last four of WTA Finals

China’s Zheng Qinwen powered into the the semi-finals of the WTA Finals in Riyadh after claiming an impressive 6-1 6-1 win over Italian fourth seed Jasmine Paolini.

In her WTA Finals debut, the 22-year-old became the youngest player to reach the last four at the event since Petra Kvitova in 2011.

Seventh seed Zheng fired 12 aces in a dominant performance, recording her 30th win from 34 matches 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 ******** 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.”

The Paris Olympic champion finished second in the purple round-robin group behind world No.1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka, who secured her semi-final berth by beating Paolini 6-3 7-5 on Monday.

In her final group match on Wednesday, *********** and US Open champion Sabalenka came back from a set down against fifth seed Elena Rybakina before losing to the Kazakh 6-4 3-6 6-1.

“It was a tough match,” Rybakina said.

“It’s nice to finish the year with at least one win against the world No.1. 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 and world No.2 Iga Swiatek are the only players with multiple wins over Sabalenka in 2024.

Jessica Pegula withdrew from her last match at the tournament because of a left knee injury.

The *********, who lost her first two matches and was already eliminated from semifinal contention, will be replaced in the Orange Group by first alternate and ninth-ranked Daria Kasatkina.

Kasatkina will play second-ranked Iga Swiatek on Thursday.

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