Zheng Qinwen continued her winning streak at the Australian Open by defeating the unseeded Anna Kalinskaya in the quarter-finals.
The 21-year-old from Hubei province came back from losing the first set in a tie-break to take the second set off her Russian opponent.
With the crowd behind her, Zheng capitalised on her more powerful hitting to break Kalinskaya three times in the third set to comfortably claim the match 6-7, 6-3, 6-1 in two hours and 20 minutes.
Zheng appeared surprised to be told in her on-court post-match interview that the win resulted her moving into the world top 10 when the new rankings are published after the tournament.
“Thanks for letting me know that – nobody told me anything about it,” she said with a smile while drawing cheers from spectators in Rod Laver Arena.
“That’s good news for me. Another motivation. Especially last year I said I wanted to be top 10 and now I’m here,” she added.
The unseeded Anna Kalinskaya couldn’t fight off her opponent’s powerful serves and ground strokes in the latter part of the match. Source: AAP / JOEL CARRETT/AAPIMAGE
Zheng had been pegged as one of the WTA’s rising stars, with Wednesday night’s performance further evidence of her potential.
She will play world number 93 Dayana Yastremska, an Australian Open qualifier, on Thursday after the Ukrainian defeated Czech Linda Noskova in two sets earlier on Wednesday.
Yastremska is the first women’s singles qualifier to reach the semi-finals of the Australian One since 1978.
If Zheng is to defeat Yastremska, she will play the winner of the other semi-final between American teen Coco Gauff and last year’s Australian Open single’s winner Aryna Sabalenka.
“I don’t think too much because every match is really tough and you can’t think so far, ” she said in a post-match press conference.
A potential final on Saturday would almost certainly draw big television audiences in mainland China, a win for the tournament’s organisers.
It’s also expected to be an occasion Zheng’s fast-growing fanbase, including those she has recently won over in Australia, will be ready for.
