Palermo Open: Defending champ Zheng into first final since Australian Open

Palermo continues to be a happy hunting ground for China’s Qinwen Zheng. On Saturday, the top seed and defending champion advanced to the final for the second year in a row and also reached her first final on the tour since her breakthrough run to the Australian Open final in January.

Zheng, ranked No 7 in the world, scored a hard-fought straight sets win over Frenchwoman Diane Parry, the No 4 seed, 7-5, 6-4 at A.S.D. Country Time Club.

The Chinese player will face second seeded Karolina Muchova for the title on Sunday. This will be the second career meeting for the two players with Muchova winning their only previous clash in Madrid in 2022, which was also on clay.

Ahead of her win today, the 21-year-old Zheng defeated Italian Sara Errani (6-3, 6-2), Croat Petra Martic (6-4, 6-4) and Romanian Jaqueline Cristian, the No 7 seed (6-1, 6-1) and has yet to drop a set this week. The Chinese player, a two-time WTA titlist, will be aiming to defend a title for the first time on the WTA Tour.

“Tonight I was more pumped than other matches,” Zheng said during her on-court interview. “She played really well and she has a tough game. She has a really good touch on clay court. It’s not easy to play against her. She has a lot of change of rhythm, variation.”

Parry, ranked No 58, beat Australian qualifier Olivia Gadecki (4-6, 6-4, 6-4), Swiss qualifier Jil Teichmann (6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-2) and Chloe Paquet (7-5, 1-6, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the Palermo tournament.

Palermo WTA 250, other semi-final result (A.S.D. Country Time Club, clay, USD 267.082):

• Karolina Muchova beat Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1, 6-1

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