Zheng Qinwen of China defeated World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-3 in the women’s singles quarterfinals at the Italian Open in Rome, Italy, on Wednesday, securing her first win over the three-time Grand Slam champion and advancing to the last four at the clay-court tournament.
“Finally, I broke through! I’ve always known I have the ability to beat anyone, and I’m really happy that I truly did it today,” Zheng said after the match. “When I played against her before, maybe because she had the title of World No. 1 and a Grand Slam champion, and also because when I was a teenager, I used to watch her play, so I couldn’t properly read the situation.”
Zheng had lost all six of her previous meetings with Sabalenka and claimed only one set in the process. But all of those contests took place on hard-courts, while this showdown marked their first face-off on clay.
Both players held their first two serves in the opening set, before Zheng broke Sabalenka first in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead, and served out in the 10th to close out the set.
China’s No. 8 seed stayed in control in the second set, building a 2-0 lead with another break. Zheng earned four break points in the seventh game, but Sabalenka saved all of them to hold. Then in the eighth, Zheng returned the favor by saving two break points to stay in front 5-3.
The 22-year-old reigning Olympic gold medalist converted her third break of the match in the ninth game, wrapping up the contest and booking her place in the semifinals against fourth-seeded Coco Gauff of the USA