Australian Open: Zheng battles past Kalinskaya to make semi-finals – qualifier Yastremska awaits
In a clash of first-time quarter-finalists, Qinwen Zheng beat Anna Kalinskaya 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 in a nervy encounter. She’ll play Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska in the semi-final
Qinwen Zheng competes at 2024 Australian Open © Icon SMI / Panoramic
Qinwen Zheng recovered from a set down to knock out Anna Kalinskaya 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 and reach her first Australian Open semi-final.
It was a maiden quarter-final appearance at Melbourne Park for both players, after the top half of the women’s draw was blown wide open following several high-profile exits earlier in the tournament.
Zheng’s win comes ten years on from her fellow countrywoman Li Na’s famous run to the title back in 2014. She will face qualifier Dayana Yastremska in the semi-final following a dream run for the Ukrainian in what has been one of the stories of the tournament.
Zheng found herself a set and 2-3 down, but reeled off ten of the final eleven games to accelerate to the finish line as Kalinskaya’s form dipped considerably following an injury to her right leg.
nervy start as neither player able to find momentum
The weight of the occasion showed early on for both players as they navigated their way through a tight and tense opening set.
They exchanged a pair of breaks each early on, before both holding serve to take the set to a tiebreak. With neither player able to find any consistent momentum, the tiebreak echoed much of the set that preceded it as it reached a nervy conclusion.
Nevertheless, it was the Russian who was looking more composed, making excellent use of her superb backhand in particular as she rose to the occasion to clinch the opener and move a set ahead.
It looked to be a chastening night for Zheng, as her first serve percentage hovered around the 43% mark following the opening stanza.
But the match shifted in the sixth game of the middle set, as Zheng upped her intensity to break Kalinskaya and sprint to a 6-3 victory in the second.
Zheng went a double break up for a 4-1 lead in the final set as it became evident that Kalinskaya’s movement was hampered.
Kalinskaya made use of a medical time-out during which she received treatment on her right leg, but it was to no avail for the Russian who was broken again in the final game as Zheng sealed the biggest win of her career.
“Anna Kalinskaya played really good today. She’s got really good baseline strokes,” Zheng said in her on-court interview following the win.
“In the first set, we had a big competition. The match was really tough for me and I just told myself stay focused and don’t think anymore about the first set.
“I’m so happy right now and really excited. I’m really happy to be in the semi-finals especially with such a good performance like this.”
Zheng cracks top ten for first time as yastremska awaits in semi-final
“Thanks for letting me know that,” Zheng continued, after being told she has now cracked the top 10 for the first time in her career.
“Nobody told me anything! That’s good news for me. Another motivation. Especially since last year at the Australian Open I said I want to be top 10 and one year later, I’m here. It’s an amazing moment.”
After the biggest match of her career so far, Zheng has less than 24 hours before an ever bigger one. Yastremska awaits in the semi-final in what is an utterly compelling prospect.
One of these players will reach their maiden Grand Slam final. For Zheng, reaching the showpiece event would coincide with the ten-year anniversary of the last Chinese woman to win the Australian Open. For Yastremska, she would become the first qualifier since Emma Raducanu at the 2021 US Open Open to reach a Grand Slam final.
It doesn’t get much bigger than that.
Melbourne (Grand Slam), other last-eight results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58.910.000, most recent results first):
- Dayana Yastremska beat Linda Noskova: 6-3, 6-4
- Aryna Sabalenka (2) beat Barbora Krejcikova (9): 6-2, 6-3
- Coco Gauff (4) beat Marta Kostyuk: 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 6-2
