WTA Tour: China's Zheng Qinwen, Wang Xinyu reach Wuhan Open last eight

Chinese tennis star Zheng Qinwen came from behind to beat US Open runnerup Leylah Fernandez of Canada 57 63 60 while Wang Xinyu defeated secondseeded Jessica Pegula in straight sets in the third round of the Wuhan Open here on Thursday In other matches the top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus downed Yulia Putintseva 16 64 60 while fourthseeded Coco Gauff of the United States cruised past Ukraines Marta Kostyuk 64 61In a hardfought match Chinas Zheng overcame Fernandez in three sets to advance to the quarterfinals as well marking her first win against Fernandez in their third meetingThe opening set saw both players engaged in a backandforth battle The two held their serves through the first four games until Zheng secured the first break in the fifth game reports XinhuaFernandez however broke back immediately to level the score As the set progressed to 55 Fernandez held her serve once again and put pressure on Zheng in the 12th game Despite Zhengs efforts to fight back from 030 down a return went long and Fernandez took the first set 75The second set continued to be tightly contested Fernandez held serve to start but Zheng had to dig deep in her opening service game saving four break points before finally holding it In the third game Zheng gained momentum breaking Fernandezs serve to take the lead Both players then held serve bringing the score to 43 Zheng took the opportunity to break Fernandez again and hold serve to close the set 63 levelling the matchAlso ReadThe clay court colossus Rafael Nadalrsquos undisputed reignIn the deciding set Fernandezs energy visibly waned and her returns began to lose their potency Zheng took full advantage dominating the third set with a flawless performance winning all six games to seal the victory 60Reflecting on her win Zheng expressed her satisfaction with finally defeating Fernandez It was never easy to play against her because her style is very different from other players she attacks from the baseline This is my first time defeating her and Im really happy to do it here in Wuhan Zheng saidAccording to the WTA Zheng has hit 350 aces this season the most by any female player in 2024 which makes it possible for Zheng to claim the Ace Queen title for the year When asked about this achievement Zheng said with a smile I didnt realize my serve was that strong But of course there are always expectations especially when my serve helps me through tough matches Meanwhile I also know that I need to keep improving Zheng addedZheng will next face Italys Jasmine Paolini the third seed of the tournament who advanced to the quarterfinals after a straightset victory over Russias Erika AndreevaIn the other match Chinas Olympic mixed doubles silver medallist Wang defeated Pegula 63 75 securing her firstever victory against a world topthree player and advancing to the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her careerWang earned ten break points and converted four of them Her aggressive baseline play and ability to capitalize on Pegulas second serve proved crucial in both setsIt was the second encounter for Pegula and Wang who had overturned the American star 21 in this years Wimbledon OpenLast time at Wimbledon I used a lot of interceptions and slices which worked well on the grass But I knew that strategy wouldnt be as effective on the hard court today Wang said I knew she wouldnt be easy to deal with and that I had to bring my best game to have a chance of beating her Im really happy with my performance today and satisfied with how I playedWangs next opponent will be Ekaterina Alexandrova The two have met twice before with each player winning onceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever