In the first-ever all-Chinese semi-final at a WTA 1000 event, Zheng Qinwen battles Wang Xinyu on centre court at the Wuhan Open on Saturday morning.
Both ladies earned three-set victories in their quarter-final fixtures, with Xinyu defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova 4-6 7-5 7-6, while Qinwen ousted Jasmine Paolini 6-2 3-6 6-3.
Match preview
© Imago
After a relatively straightforward opening victory over Jaqueline Cristian in the round of 32, Zheng has had to work hard to prolong her stay in this competition, going to a third and decisive set in her previous two matches.
On both occasions, though, she has come up big when needed in the third set, advancing to her second successive singles tournament semi-final.
In her quarter-final encounter, Qinwen had a 71% winning percentage on her first serve while winning four of her eight break points to advance.
This will be her fourth semi-final appearance on tour in 2024, with the Olympic singles gold medallist in Paris winning three of those matches, though she lost the last time out at this stage of the China Open versus Karolina Muchova.
The 22-year-old has played 48 matches this year and boasted a powerful serve that's been difficult to contain, hitting 298 aces in 2024.
That powerful serve is a big reason why she has managed to win 76.9% of her service games this year, including 76.1% of her first serves.
© Imago
After a disappointing past few tournaments on tour, Xinyu has turned it around at the Wuhan Open, advancing to the semi-finals at a singles event for the first time since the Makarska Open in June.
In that instance, she was beaten in the semis by Katie Volynets in straight sets, and this weekend, she will seek her first appearance in a WTA final since suffering a straight sets defeat in the ATX Open final versus fellow Chinese player Yue Yuan.
Before this tournament began, Xinyu had lost her opening match in two of her previous three WTA events, including her last one at the China Open against Viktorija Golubic.
Against Alexandrova, Wang won 61% of her first serves, while her opponent had 10 double faults, which enabled the 23-year-old to move on.
Usually, it has been Xinyu who has been her own worst enemy in the service game, registering 146 double faults in 2024 while hitting 130 aces.
That said, she has still been able to win a majority of her service games, winning 72.3% of them to this stage of the 2024 campaign.
Tournament so far
Zheng Qinwen:
Round of 32: vs. Jaqueline Cristian 6-2 6-4
Round of 16: vs. Leylah Fernandez 5-7 6-3 6-0
Quarter-finals: vs. Jasmine Paolini 6-2 3-6 6-3
Wang Xinyu:
Round of 64: vs. Caroline Dolehide 6-4 6-0
Round of 32: vs. Mirra Andreeva 7-6 6-3
Round of 16: vs. Jessica Pegula 6-3 7-5
Quarter-finals: vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova 4-6 7-5 7-6
Head To Head
BBVA open Internacional (2022) - Final: Qinwen wins 6-4 4-6 6-3
Internazional BNL D'Italia (2023) - Fourth Round: Qinwen wins 6-4 3-6 6-1
When these two first met in Spain over two years ago, Qinwen had eight double faults but recovered thanks to her first serve, winning 72% of those to prevail.
Less than a year later, Qinwen came up big in the decisive third set, losing only one of those games as she managed to advance into the next round.
We say: Qinwen to win in three sets
Xinyu has been a giant killer at this tournament so far, but we expect her magical run will end in the semi-finals because Qinwen is too strong in the service game and hits the ball with much more consistent precision.
Joel Lefevre
