A place in the final of the Tokyo Open will be up for grabs when Qinwen Zheng and Diana Shnaider face each other in a WTA singles match for the first time on Saturday.
In the quarter-finals, Zheng defeated Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-0 1-6 6-3, while Shnaider won her encounter by default after Sayaka Ishii had to withdraw from that match.
Match preview
© Imago
Despite dropping her first set of the competition, Zheng still put together a comfortable victory against Fernandez in the quarter-finals, winning 68% of her first serves.
That was significantly higher than the 54% that Fernandez boasted, while the top-seeded player at this event out-duelled the Canadian by hitting seven aces and conceding only two.
Thanks to that victory, Zheng can reach her second successive WTA final on the singles draw, having lost the final of the Wuhan Open versus Aryna Sabalenka (3-6 7-5 3-6).
This upcoming match will be her sixth appearance in a WTA semi-final this year, with Zheng losing only once at this stage in 2024, against Karolina Muchova in the China Open (3-6 4-6).
For the year, Qinwen Zheng has now won 37.2% of her return games while managing to convert 48% of her return break points in 2024.
Having already secured a place in the ATP finals, Zheng has not lost a semi-final encounter all year long after winning the opening set.
© Imago
Shnaider did not have to strike a single ball to make her first semi-final since the Hanna Bank Open in September when Daria Kasatkina beat her 3-6 4-6.
The Russian's serve has been sharp throughout this tournament, winning 80% of her first serves against Viktoriya Tomova in the last 16.
On Friday, Shnaider can make a singles final for the first time on tour since capturing the Hungarian Grand Prix in straight sets versus Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4 6-4.
Her match this weekend will be her first singles semi-final on the hard court since the Fifth Third Charleston 125, when she defeated Yafan Wang at this same stage (3-6 6-3 6-3).
In 2024, she has now won 71.6% of her service games while also winning 59.6% of her service points to this stage of the year.
So far at this tournament, she has managed to reduce her unforced errors, only hitting two double faults on the Tokyo Open singles draw.
Tournament so far
Qinwen Zheng:
Round of 16: vs. Moyuka Uchijima 7-5 6-0
Quarter-finals: vs. Leylah Fernandez 6-0 1-6 6-3
Diana Shnaider:
Round of 16: vs. Viktoriya Tomova 6-2 6-2
Quarter-finals: vs. Sayaka Ishii walkover
We say: Zheng to win in two sets
Zheng should be relatively comfortable playing in a match of this magnitude, and we trust her precision and powerful groundstrokes will propel her to another victory.
Joel Lefevre
