China's Zheng Qinwen and Zhu Lin set up a semifinal clash at the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province on Friday, after dispatching Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko and Russia's Veronika Kudermetova, respectively.
Zheng Qinwen celebrates after defeating Jelena Ostapenko at WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, October 27, 2023. /CFP
Zheng, who rose to the world No. 18 after winning the WTA Zhengzhou Open title earlier this month, went into the three-set match with a 2-0 head-to-head record with the French Open champion, breaking first in the opening set and wrapping up a 6-4 victory with an ace of 186km/h.
Ostapenko, however, forced errors on Zheng in the second set, which she levelled with a 6-1 comeback. "I had many chances when I was serving, but I lost focus and was broken by my opponent, which gave her a five-game run. But I am very happy to come back strong in the decider," Zheng said after the match, as she broke in the sixth game of the third set to expand her leading edge before taking a 6-2 win.
Meanwhile, wildcarder Zhu topped her group, which also include Russian players Veronika Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova, when all three players each had one win and one defeat.
The other semifinal on Saturday will take place between No. 8 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia from Brazil and No. 6 seed Daria Kasatkina from Russia.