Anisimova beats Zheng Qinwen and will face Maria in Queen's Club final

Eighth-seeded Amanda Anisimova of the USA shocked top seed Zheng Qinwen of China 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the women's singles semifinals at the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Queen's Club in London on Saturday, advancing to the final.

Anisimova will face German qualifier Tatjana Maria for the WTA 500 event title on Sunday. Maria, 37, upset second-seeded American Madison Keys 6-3, 7-6(3) in the other semifinal match, and became the oldest WTA Tour finalist since Serena Williams won the ASB Classic at the age of 38 in 2020.

Anisimova's aggressive attacks caught Zheng off guard in the first set, and she broke the 22-year-old twice to claim the frame in 37 minutes. Zheng began the second set trailing 2-0, but bounced back with a series of breaks. After serving up a love game in the ninth to lead 5-4, Zheng broke her opponent again in the 10th, wrapping up the set 6-4 and leveling the overall match at 1-1.

Anisimova started the third set with a 2-0 advantage, but Zheng claimed three straight games in response. The American saved three break points in the sixth to level things at 3-3.

Zheng's increase in unforced errors in the seventh game led to another break by her opponent. Although she held in the ninth to prolong the contest, Anisimova sealed the deal in the next game 6-4.

Earlier in the day, Maria shocked Keys in straight sets for her first career victory in four meetings with the reigning Australian Open champion.

Keys served up 10 aces, but failed to convert any breaks.

"You always have to keep going. You never can stop. It doesn't matter how it goes," Maria said. "I love to play tennis, I love this sport, and we live for these special moments."