Zhengzhou Open: Kasatkina into semi-finals as Jabeur withdraws with knee injury

Daria Kasatkina, the No 8 seed, reached the last four of the Zhengzhou Open after Tunisian Ons Jabeur, the No 4 seed, withdrew before their quarter-final match at the Zhongyuan Tennis Training Base Management Center.

Fourth seed Jabeur was forced to withdraw with a knee injury.

Following a hard-fought victory over Lucia Bronzetti in which Jabeur needed five match points to close out the match 6-3, 7-6(5), the Tunisian announced she would be unable to continue in the event.

“I’m so sorry that I have to withdraw because my knee is not feeling so great.  I just want to say that I love my time here in Zhengzhou and I hopefully I can come back next year,” Jabeur said.

Kasatkina, ranked No 12, will play the winner of the match between No 7 seed Barbora Krejcikova and Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko next.

The Russian won against Hungarian lucky loser Timea Babos (6-1, 7-6 (7)) and Chinese wildcard Zhuoxuan Bai (6-2, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the Zhengzhou tournament.

In the previous round of the Zhengzhou tournament, Jabeur, ranked No 7, beat Italian Lucia Bronzetti (6-3, 7-6 (5)).

Zhengzhou WTA 500, other quarter-finals results (Zhongyuan Tennis Training Base Management Center, hard, USD 780.637, most recent results first):

• Barbora Krejcikova vs. Lesia Tsurenko
• Anhelina Kalinina vs. Qinwen Zheng
• Laura Siegemund vs. Jasmine Paolini