🏆 Zheng Qinwen is on a roll! The 21-year-old sensation from China dominated Italy's Jasmine Paolini with a smashing 6-1, 6-1 victory in her third match of the Purple Group at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. With this epic win on Wednesday, Zheng rockets into the semifinals! 🚀
Zheng just became the second Chinese player ever to reach the women's singles semifinals at the WTA Finals, following the legendary Li Na back in 2013. Talk about making history! 📚
Having crushed Paolini in all their previous encounters, Zheng stepped onto the court with confidence levels over 9000! 😎 She broke Paolini three times in the first set and even threw in a love game for good measure. That first set was over in a flash! ⚡
Paolini tried to fight back in the second set, but Zheng was unstoppable. The Italian found herself trailing 5-1 after conceding two breaks. She hustled to bring the seventh game to deuce, but Zheng, ranked world No.7, fired back with two big serves—including an ace—to seal the deal. Game, set, match! 🎯
\"I'm really proud that I can make it because I didn't know what would happen when I came to this WTA Finals,\" Zheng said with a smile after her victory. \"It's my first time, so I just told myself to enjoy it. Actually, I played in a very difficult group. I want to thank the fans who came to watch me today.\" ❤️
Meanwhile, in the group's other match, Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina pulled off a win against Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka with a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. But no worries for Sabalenka fans—she's still cruising into the semifinals. 🌟
\"It was a tough match,\" Rybakina said after her win. \"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.\" 🎾
Get ready, because the semifinals are heating up! Will Zheng continue her meteoric rise? Stay tuned! 🔥
Reference(s):
Zheng Qinwen beats Jasmine Paolini, reaches WTA Finals last four
cgtn.com
