Zheng defeats Paolini to advance to WTA Finals semi-finals, Sabalenka loses and Pegula withdraws
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Zheng Qinwen cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Jasmine Paolini to achieve the semifinals of the WTA Finals on Wednesday.
Zheng wanted simply over an hour to defeat Paolini within the match that determined the ultimate qualifying match from the Purple Group for the season-ending event for the highest eight ladies’s gamers.
High-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, who received her first two matches to clinch a semifinal spot, misplaced 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to No. 5 Elena Rybakina. It was Rybakina’s first win within the round-robin class.
It was Zheng’s fourth win in as many matches in opposition to Paolini. The 22-year-old Chinese language participant had 12 aces and broke Italy 5 occasions.
“It is among the best video games I’ve carried out this yr,” Zheng stated. “I am actually proud. I performed in a very powerful crew.”
Zheng is the youngest participant to achieve the semifinals in her first look on the WTA Finals since Petra Kvitova in 2011. It’s his seventh semi-final of the yr and the primary time he has crushed two top-10 opponents in the identical event. She defeated Elena Rybakina on Monday.
Zheng has received 30 matches since Wimbledon, received an Olympic gold medal in Paris and received titles in Palermo and Tokyo.
She would turn into solely the second participant to win a singles gold medal and attain the WTA Finals in the identical season since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988, after Serena Williams in 2012.
Paolini completed the season 38-19, having reached the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon.
Jessica Pegula withdrew from her closing recreation of the event because of a left knee damage. The American, who misplaced her first two matches and has already been eradicated from the semifinals, will probably be changed within the Orange Group by fellow ninth-seeded Daria Kasatkina.
Kasatkina will play second-ranked Iga Swiatek on Thursday.
