Zheng Qinwen enjoying her tennis as she makes last four of WTA Finals

RIYADH – Zheng Qinwen is the reigning Olympic champion, and she is also making a huge impact in her first appearance at the WTA Finals.

On Nov 6, the Chinese star beat Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of the tournament, while also claiming her 30th win from 35 matches contested since Wimbledon.

Her victory put her in second place in the Purple Group behind world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to Elena Rybakina but had already qualified for the last four as group winner.

Zheng, who needed only 67 minutes to clinch her victory, has now defeated Paolini, 28, in all four of their encounters.

“It’s one of the best performances I had during this year,” she said on court afterwards. “Really good percentage of first serves. I enjoyed a lot tonight to play here.”

She finished with 24 winners to just 14 unforced errors and won 77 per cent of her first-serve points. In one impressive sequence, she blasted six successive first serves that were not returned, four of them aces.

For the record, the 22-year-old Zheng is now the youngest player in her WTA Finals debut to reach the semi-finals since Czech star Petra Kvitova in 2011.

She is also the second Chinese woman player after Li Na in 2013 to reach the last four of this prestigious season-ending tournament.

“It’s almost 11 years ago. I’m proud I could make it,” added Zheng of matching her idol’s feat.

“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.

“Thanks to all the fans who came to watch me tonight. Thanks for all your support.”

It remains to be seen if she can go all the way at the WTA Finals, but 2024 has been a good year for her.

Besides her Olympic gold, she won titles in Palermo and Tokyo, as well as progressing to the quarter-finals at the US Open, a semi-final in Beijing and the finals in Wuhan and the Australian Open.

Earlier on Nov 5, Coco Gauff posted a rare victory over Iga Swiatek to punch her ticket to the semi-finals, while ensuring Sabalenka will finish the year as the world No. 1.

Swiatek, the defending champion, was in a direct battle with Sabalenka for the top spot this week but needed a win over Gauff to keep alive her chances of leapfrogging her Belarusian rival.

Gauff entered the contest having lost 11 of her 12 previous meetings with the Polish star, with the American’s sole victory coming in Cincinnati in 2023.

But she turned the tables on Swiatek, defeating the second seed 6-3, 6-4 to make it two straight-set wins from two round-robin matches this week.

“It feels great. I knew going into the match that despite our head-to-head (record), I had a lot of confidence going in,” said Gauff, who hit 11 double faults during the 1hr 48min showdown.

In other news, Goran Ivanisevic said he never envisioned himself coaching on the WTA Tour but decided to link up with 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina because he “needed a U-turn” after parting ways with Novak Djokovic.

The Croat helped Djokovic claim nine of his 24 Grand Slam titles before leaving his team in March and on Nov 1 was hired to coach world No. 5 Rybakina for the 2025 season.

Ivanisevic, who also won Wimbledon in 2001 as a player, has previously coached only male players, including Marin Cilic, Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic.

“I know that many people found it odd and that people were surprised by our collaboration, but not me – I needed a U-turn after Novak,” the 53-year-old told the Tennis Majors website in an interview published on Nov 5.

“I won everything with Novak, so I am extremely looking forward to this new challenge. Honestly, during my time on the ATP Tour, I never pictured myself on the women’s tour, but I don’t see myself in men’s tennis at the moment.” AFP, REUTERS