Top players Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina and Poland’s Iga Swiatek suffered shocking defeats in the quarterfinals of the China Open tennis tournament on Friday.
In the women’s singles, Svitolina, who was seeded 6th, lost to unseeded China’s Qinwen Zheng in straight sets, 3-6, 6-7 (6/8). This was the first time the two had faced each other.
Zheng, who completed the match in 1 hour and 47 minutes, has advanced to the semifinals for the fourth time in WTA 1000 events.
It is noteworthy that Zheng has been playing brilliantly this season. Zheng, who recently reached the quarterfinals at the US Open, has recorded 12 wins in her last 13 matches on the tour this season.
Zheng became the third player to advance to the semifinals at the China Open after entering through a wild card. Shuai Peng (2006) and Qiang Wang (2018) were the first two. Likewise, Zheng is the third home player to advance to the semifinals more than once in this tournament. Li Na and Peng were the first two.
In another quarterfinal, world No. 8 and six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek lost to Belgium’s No. 13 Elise Mertens in straight sets, 6-7 (0/7), 3-6. The match lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes.
This was the third meeting between the two, and Mertens recorded her first win. With this victory, she has advanced to the semifinals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in the past five years.
Mertens has impressed by defeating Grand Slam champions (Ostapenko, Gauff, Swiatek) in her last 3 matches. Mertens became the first player in the past 8 years to beat two former champions (Gauff, Swiatek) at the China Open. Next, Zheng and Mertens will meet in the semifinals.
Finals: Due to the impact of Swiatek’s exit in the China Open quarterfinals, Russia’s Mira Andreeva and the Czech Republic’s Linda Noskova have qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time.
Zverev wins; Djokovic loses
In the second round of the Shanghai Masters men’s tennis tournament, which has begun in China, Germany’s Alexander Zverev won, while star player Serbia’s Novak Djokovic suffered a defeat and was eliminated.
Top seed Zverev defeated China’s Wu Yibing 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), while 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic suffered a shocking straight-sets loss to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, 4-6, 3-6.
America’s Ben Shelton, ranked 3rd, defeated Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), while America’s Frances Tiafoe, ranked 7th, beat Belgium’s Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 6-4. Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, ranked 6th, lost to France’s Adrian Mannarino in sets of 1-6, 6-4, 3-6.