Chinese Qinwen Zheng, ranked twelfth in the world, reached the final of Australian Open, the first of the four major tennis tournaments, for the first time in her career, after her victory on Thursday over Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, ranked 93, with a score of 6-4, 6-4.
Qinwen path to the title will be difficult as she faces second-seeded Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who has become the first player to reach the final twice in a row since American Serena Williams in 2016-2017.
Qinwen Zheng became the second Chinese woman to reach the final of a Grand Slam.
She needed an hour and 42 minutes to reach the final of one of the four major tournaments for the first time, noting that she reached the final of the final WTA tournament in 2023.
Ten years after the final played by her compatriot Li Na, winner of Roland Garros (2011) and Australia (2014), 21-year-old Chenwen is one match away from winning her first major title.
The victory put an end to Yastremska, who had achieved eight consecutive victories in Melbourne, including in qualifying, to become the first qualifier to reach the semi-finals of the season-opening major tournament since Australian Christine Mathieson in 1978.
Yastremska forced her opponent to make a great effort to qualify, but she was unable to decide the decisive moments.
Although the Ukrainian woman led 2-0 and then 3-2 in the first set, the Chinese woman was able to equalize and then break her serve before the result was decided.
The winning scenario was repeated in the second set, after Qinwen Zheng broke her opponent’s serve again and led her 4-3 and 5-3 before deciding 6-4.