China Open: Badosa ends Zhang’s magical run in quarters

Spaniard Paula Badosa, the No 15 seed, moved into the semi-finals of the China Open by winning against Chinese wildcard Zhang Shuai 6-1, 7-6 (4) at the National Tennis Center in Beijing on Thursday.

Badosa completed the win in 85 minutes, with four break-point conversions, ten aces, and an average of 78 percent on the first-serve points.

The Spaniard has entered a second consecutive WTA 1000 final, after having done it in Cincinnati in August.

Also, Zhang’s magical run as the home hero in Beijing concluded with the Thursday outcome. She snapped 24-match losing streak by winning her opener against American McCartney Kessler (7-6 (5), 7-6 (1)).

The Chinese then stunned American Emma Navarro, the No 6 seed (6-4, 6-2) and overcame Belgian Greet Minnen (6-2, 6-3) and Pole Magdalena Frech, the No 23 seed (6-4, 6-2) in the previous rounds of the Beijing tournament.

Badosa acknowledged Zhang’s effort praising the level of tennis the 35-year-old produced in the last few days.

“Look, first of all I want to say some words to Shuai,” Badosa said in her post-match interview. She’s amazing as a person. You could see the level today also. I’m really happy for her because she went through very tough times. It shows how much of a fighter she is.

“She’s great. Her team is great. She’s always with a smile and supporting me even during the tour. It’s great to have a tennis player like her. What I told her in the net was that she shouldn’t retire because her level is really really high.”

Badosa, ranked No 19, will play the winner of the match between Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva and American Coco Gauff, the No 4 seed, next.

Earlier in the tournament, the Spaniard beat Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova (6-3, 6-2), Slovak qualifier Rebecca Sramkova (7-5, 7-5) and American Jessica Pegula, the second seed (6-4, 6-0).

Beijing WTA 1000, other last 8 results (National Tennis Center, hard, USD 8.955.610, most recent results first):

• Mirra Andreeva vs. Qinwen Zheng
• Aryna Sabalenka vs. Karolina Muchova
• Yuliia Starodubtseva vs. Coco Gauff

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