|
Zheng needed just over an hour to defeat
Paolini in the match that decided the final qualifier from the
Purple Group at the season-ending tournament for the top eight
women's players.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who had won her first two matches to
clinch a semifinal spot, lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to No. 5 Elena
Rybakina. It was Rybakina's first win of the round-robin phase.
It was Zheng's fourth win in as many matches against Paolini.
The 22-year-old Chinese player had 12 aces and broke the
Italian's serve five times.
“It's one of the best performances I had during this year,”
Zheng said. “I'm really proud. I played in a really difficult
group.”
Zheng is the youngest player to reach the semifinals in her
first appearance at the WTA Finals since Petra Kvitova in 2011.
It’s her seventh semifinal of the year and the first time she
has beaten two top-10 opponents in the same tournament. She
defeated Elena Rybakina on Monday.
Zheng has won 30 matches since Wimbledon, clinching the Olympic
gold medal in Paris and winning titles in Palermo and Tokyo.
She could become the second player to win the singles gold medal
and reach the WTA Finals championship match in the same season
since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988, after Serena
Williams in 2012.
Paolini finished the season 38-19, having made the finals of the
French Open and Wimbledon.
Jessica Pegula withdrew from her last match at the tournament
because of a left knee injury. The American, 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.
All contents © copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
