PARIS – Top-ranked Alina Sabalenka defeated Zheng Qinwen in straight sets on Tuesday to reach the second French Open semi-final.
Chasing her first title at Roland Garos, Sabalenka overcomes volatile start and windy conditions to win 7-6 (3), 6-3, expanding her record against the Olympic champions to 7-1.
However, the scores did not fully reflect the closeness of the quarterfinals, but rarely separated rivals. However, Sabalenka showed why she was number one in the world, making a big difference to the point, and Zheng struggled with her serve in a tense moment.
Sabalenka is about to reach the sixth Grand Slam final against defending champions Iga Switek or Erina Svitolina.
Zheng became stronger with Court Philippe-Chatrier, broke early and dominated with aggressive plays.
However, two double faults in the eighth game allowed Sabalenka to regain momentum and shift.
A misunderstood call from Zheng in the 12th game cost her almost, but she fought the setpoint to force a tiebreaker. Sabalenka was more consistent and secured the set after Zheng hit a long time with a drop shot.
Zheng saved a breakpoint with an overhead shot in the fifth game of the second set, but Sabalenka’s powerful backhand return locked her in the next set, allowing the top-ranked player to go ahead 3-2. However, Zheng did not fall without a fight and quickly went back just to drop the last two service games.
The loss concluded Zheng’s 10th consecutive match victory at Roland Garos heading into the Olympics last summer.