Home veteran Zhang Shuai eliminated in China Open quarterfinals

No. 15 seed Paula Badosa of Spain defeated Zhang Shuai of China 6-1, 7-6(4) in the women's singles quarterfinals at the China Open in Beijing on Thursday, advancing to play No. 4 seed Coco Gauff of the U.S. on Saturday.

Badosa began the match in better form than Zhang. She scored three breaks in the first set, turning a 4-0 early lead into an easy 6-1 win.

Zhang bounced back in the second set, converting a break in the first game with a return winner and then holding to lead 2-0. Though she missed a break point in the third game, the 35-year-old scored four straight points to hold in the following game, and lead 3-1.

Badosa launched fierce counterattacks from the fifth game by exploiting Zhang's increased errors. She was leading 5-4 with a match point, but Zhang won four straight points run in the tenth game to hold and tie the score a 5.

Both refused to allow another break in the following two games and the match entered the tiebreak. Zhang first wiped a two-point deficit to tie it at 4, but then Badosa won three points in a row to win the tiebreak 7-4.

Badosa became the second Spanish player to make the China Open women's singles semifinals after Garbine Muguruza in 2015. Both she and Zhang were struggling before the tournament, but they managed to find their good form in Beijing.

"It's great to have a tennis player like her (Zhang)," Badosa said after the match. "What I told her in the net was that she shouldn't retire because her level is really really high."

"There have been countless players and coaches telling me this in the past period of time," Zhang said at the post-match press conference. "I want to thank Badosa for her encouragement, especially after such a fierce match."