Seventh time's the charm: Zheng Qinwen stuns Aryna Sabalenka to reach Rome semifinals

Zheng Qinwen snapped Aryna Sabalenka's 11-match winning streak, surprisingly taking the victory 6-4, 6-3 at the Rome Open. The Chinese tennis player advances to the semifinals of the Italian Open for the first time in her career and will face Coco Gauff for a place in the final.

The 22-year-old overcame an unfavorable streak of 6 consecutive losses against Sabalenka and for the fourth time in her career reaches the Last 4 of a WTA 1000 tournament.

First Set

At the start of the match, both players tried to take the initiative, although Sabalenka looked in better form despite Zheng's problems with her first serve. The Belarusian was the first to get a couple of break point opportunities but couldn't capitalize on them.

It was at that moment that Sabalenka faltered on her serve in an erratic game, with a couple of unforced errors that ended up costing her the break. Zheng took the lead 4-2 and neither player gave any more chances on their serve. The 22-year-old Chinese player won 85% of the points on her first serve and ended up closing the set 6-4.

Second Set

Zheng Qinwen quickly took the lead with an early break and then held onto her serve to maintain the advantage, while Sabalenka struggled with frustration. On previous occasions, Zheng had taken the lead against the Belarusian, but she was never able to sustain the momentum.

This time, Zheng was even more sharp on her serve, and throughout the set, she was always much closer to a second break than Sabalenka was to leveling the score. After wasting up to seven break chances throughout the set, Zheng took advantage of the final tense moments and secured the victory 6-4, 6-3, reaching the semifinals of the Rome Open for the first time in her career.

Match Statistics Sabalenka vs. Zheng