WTA Finals Riyadh—Saudi Arabia
Zheng Reaches Riyadh Semifinals; Shapovalov Advances to Belgrade Quarterfinals
Wednesday’s action at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia featured Chinese star Qinwen Zheng advance to the semifinals, defeating No. 4 seed Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-1.
The quick-fire result by Zheng took one hour and seven minutes to complete. The 22-year-old hit 12 aces, won 77 percent of her first serve points and broke serve on five occasions.
Never losing her serve throughout the encounter, Zheng improved to 2-1 in the Purple Group and will join top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the final four.
Sabalenka will take on No. 5 seed Elena Rybakina later today in singles action. Sabalenka currently stands at 2-0 in matches this week, while Rybakina has yet to win a contest in Riyadh.
Thursday’s schedule at the WTA Finals will feature No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek taking on No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula and No. 3 seed Coco Gauff facing No. 8 seed Barbora Krejcikova.
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Belgrade Open—Serbia
Former top 10 star Denis Shapovalov raced into the quarterfinals of the Belgrade Open in Serbia on Wednesday, dismissing No. 5 seed Nuno Borges 6-2, 6-4.
The impressive victory by Shapovalov included nine aces, 91 percent of his first serve points won and three breaks of serve. The Canadian will next face Christopher O’Connell from Australian for a place in the semifinals.
Other results on the day included No. 3 seed Francisco Cerundolo dispatching his Russian opponent Roman Safiullin, 6-4, 6-4.
Moselle Open Results
Wednesday’s schedule in Metz, France will feature recently qualified ATP Finals competitor and tournament No. 2 seed Casper Ruud in action. Ruud will face Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in his first match of the week.
Other Frenchmen in action on Wednesday will include Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Quentin Halys, Jesper de Jong, Hugo Gaston and Luca Van Assche.
Top seed Andrey Rublev withdrew after qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. The Russian had won his first match on Tuesday against Lorenzo Sonego, 7-6(3), 7-5.
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