Nandu News Reporter Wang Yayun On the evening of the 12th, the high-profile Wuhan Open women's singles semifinals staged the "Golden Flower Derby", the two Chinese girls who met for the first time on the tour stage After a duel, Zheng Qinwen, the No. 5 seed in his hometown, defeated Wang Xinyu in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, and reached the final of the WTA1000-level event for the first time in his career. She will face the tournament's top seed and old rival Sabalenka in the final.
Zheng Qinwen reached the final of the 1000 level of the tour for the first time in his career, at the Wuhan Open in his hometown. Photography: Nandu, N video reporter Li Zhanjun
Zheng Qinwen and Wang Xinyu, who are of similar age, are both representative players of the younger generation of Chinese women's tennis, and both have made historic breakthroughs for Chinese tennis on the international stage, but the two have never met on the professional tour before, and the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open are also their first meeting, and the attendance rate has set a new high in the Wuhan Open.
The Golden Flower Derby also brought the day's attendance to a new high. Photography: Nandu, N video reporter Li Zhanjun
Interestingly, although the game was played in Zheng Qinwen's hometown, the nearly 13,000 spectators at the scene did not cheer for Zheng Qinwen "one-sidedly", and Wang Xinyu's many wonderful counterattacks during the game also won the applause of the audience. Although Zheng Qinwen made more mistakes in the second set, her service advantage still helped her control the situation, and she also won the final service game with 3 consecutive aces.
Snooker star Ding Junhui served as the guest of honor for this game. Photography: Nandu, N video reporter Li Zhanjun
The outcome was a win-or-loser, but it was a derby in the semi-finals of a high-level tournament on Chinese soil that meant something special to both girls. "Today I heard the audience cheering for both of us, which is also a very special feeling," Zheng Qinwen said, "She (Wang Xinyu) also played very well today, which brought me a lot of pressure, I am very happy to win in the end, I didn't think that my 1000 final could be achieved in the Wuhan Open, so thank you very much for your support, and look forward to having a better performance in the final." ”
The fact that the two girls reached the semi-finals of the high-level tour at the same time is also another confirmation of the progress of Chinese tennis. Photography: Nandu, N video reporter Li Zhanjun
Speaking of the final, Zheng will face old and two-time champion and current world No. 1 Belarus star Sabalenka, who defeated fourth seed Gauff in today's semifinals, while Zheng Qinwen and Sabalenka have failed in two previous meetings, including the Australian Open women's singles final earlier this year.
Zheng Qinwen will face his old foe and current world No. 1 Sabalenka in the final. Photography: Nandu, N video reporter Li Zhanjun
"I've lost the first two meetings with her [Sabalenka] and she's really a very strong opponent and I think her mentality might be more dominant." "But I want to say that I'm different in all aspects now, and I also want to show my stuff to the fullest, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow's final, let's see what happens." ”