Duan Yingying (L) and Zheng Saisai celebrate winning the doubles semifinal at the Shenzhen Open at Shenzhen Longgang Sports Center on January 10, 2020.
China's women's doubles pair Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai will play Czech second seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova on Saturday in the Shenzhen Open doubles final.
Duan and Zheng advanced to their first title match in 2020 by ending the run of Japanese-Romanian pair Misaki Doi and Monica Niculescu 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 in the semifinal on Thursday. The Chinese duo recovered from a set down and displayed admirable resilience to wrap up the encounter in one hour and 21 minutes.
"The first set they played pretty well and were very aggressive at the net and serving at a high percentage," said Zheng after the hard-fought win. "We talked to each other and tried to change our strategy for the second set to make more shots down the line or lob so their net strategy cannot work too much. Overall, I think we did pretty well."
Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai in action during the doubles semifinal at the Shenzhen Open at Shenzhen Longgang Sports Center on January 10, 2020.
Last June, Duan and Zheng, partnering for the first time, went all the way to the French Open final only to fall at the final hurdle. Now, they have set their sights on winning a morale-boosting doubles title in the new year.
"We are going to the check videos of our opponents in the finals because we have not played them before. We will talk and try to prepare the best we can," Zheng said.
Earlier in the day, Garbine Muguruza's Shenzhen Open campaign came to a premature end as the former world No.1 was knocked out by Russian fifth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-3.
"I'm feeling great; I'm very excited about the final tomorrow, and I hope I can do my best. I was feeling very calm today and very confident," said Alexandrova, who is only one step away from winning her maiden Women's Tennis Association (WTA) trophy.
"She (Muguruza) is a real experienced player; she knows what to do and how to play. I just tried to stay calm throughout the match, and I think that helped a lot," the 25-year-old added.
Ekaterina Alexandrova thanks the crowd by throwing signed tennis balls into the stands during the women's singles semifinal at the Shenzhen Open at Shenzhen Longgang Sports Center on January 10, 2020.
Next up for Alexandrova is Kazakhstan's star Elena Rybakina. The seventh-seeded 20-year-old overwhelmed Czech Kristyna Pliskova 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 13 minutes.
Rybakina is no stranger to Alexandrova; they met once before at the Czech Tennis Extraliga last December.
"We didn't play each other in WTA tournaments, but I know her, and I'm going to watch her matches, and I will talk with my coach, and I will try to do my best tomorrow," said Rybakina.