Zheng beats Switolina in Beijing and will face Świątek or Mertens next
Wildcard Qinwen Zheng beat Elina Switolina in the China Open quarterfinal in front of a home crowd, taking the opening set 6:3 and winning the tie-break that decided the second.
Path to the quarterfinal
In June Qinwen Zheng was ranked 160th in the world, according to Sport Interia, and she came through qualifying at the US Open in late August. The China Open gave her a wildcard, the last one of the season, because she was too far down the rankings to enter the main draw on merit. Her quarterfinal against Switolina was played on the Capital Group Diamond court, where several thousand fans backed her. Zheng entered the match ranked 54th, while Switolina was seventh according to Polsat Sport.
Opening set
Zheng broke Switolina in the first game and never let the set drift back. Polsat Sport reported that Switolina lost her serve three times in the set, while Zheng lost hers once. Sport Interia counted 19 winners for Zheng against 5 for Switolina after the opening set, which ended 6:3 after about three quarters of an hour. Sportowe Fakty noted that Zheng won the opening set despite a 0:5 deficit in some games during her earlier matches at the tournament.
- Zheng breaks Switolina to take the opening game
- Zheng wins the first set 6:3
- Zheng wins the tie-break and the match
Second set and tie-break
The second set was far more even, and both players held serve for long stretches. Switolina broke in the seventh game and led 4:3 according to Sportowe Fakty, but Zheng broke back straight after the changeover. Polsat Sport recorded the score at 4:4 before the tie-break. Zheng was two points from victory in the tenth game, but Switolina held on and the set went to a tie-break, which Zheng won.
What comes next
Zheng will play a semifinal on Saturday on the hard courts in Beijing. Her opponent will be either Iga Świątek or Elise Mertens, whose quarterfinal was still to be played. Świątek has met Zheng nine times, winning seven, according to Polsat Sport. Zheng beat Świątek in the 2024 Olympic semifinal in Paris, where she went on to win gold. The main draw runs until 11 October, and the winner receives 1000 WTA ranking points and $1.151 million from a total prize pool of $9.415 million.
