Zheng routs Paolini to advance to semifinals at WTA Finals. Sabalenka loses and Pegula withdraws

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Zheng Qinwen cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Jasmine Paolini to reach the semifinals of the WTA Finals on Wednesday.

Zheng needed just over an hour to defeat Paolini in the match that decided the final qualifier from the Purple Group at the season-ending tournament for the top eight women’s players.

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who had won her first two matches to clinch a semifinal spot, lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to No. 5 Elena Rybakina. It was Rybakina’s first win of the round-robin phase.

It was Zheng’s fourth win in as many matches against Paolini. The 22-year-old Chinese player had 12 aces and broke the Italian’s serve five times.

“It’s one of the best performances I had during this year,” Zheng said. “I’m really proud. I played in a really difficult group.”

Zheng is the youngest player to reach the semifinals in her first appearance at the WTA Finals since Petra Kvitova in 2011. It’s her seventh semifinal of the year and the first time she has beaten two top-10 opponents in the same tournament. She defeated Elena Rybakina on Monday.

Zheng has won 30 matches since Wimbledon, clinching the Olympic gold medal in Paris and winning titles in Palermo and Tokyo.

She could become the second player to win the singles gold medal and reach the WTA Finals championship match in the same season since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988, after Serena Williams in 2012.

Paolini finished the season 38-19, having made the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon.

Jessica Pegula withdrew from her last match at the tournament because of a left knee injury. The American, who lost her first two matches and was already eliminated from semifinal contention, will be replaced in the Orange Group by first alternate and ninth-ranked Daria Kasatkina.

Kasatkina will play second-ranked Iga Swiatek on Thursday.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis