Zheng is the primary Chinese language participant to succeed in the Australian Open girls’s singles semi-finals since Li Na – who Zheng has cited as a significant inspiration for her – gained the title in 2014.
And in one other second of symmetry, this 12 months’s last shall be on the tenth anniversary of Li’s win, marking the final time a Chinese language participant gained a significant singles title.
Very similar to Yastremska, 21-year-old Zheng has been marked as a future Slam contender, having memorably taken world primary Iga Swiatek to 3 units on the 2022 French Open.
She grew into the match towards Kalinskaya, the 2 buying and selling breaks within the first set earlier than Kalinskaya took the tie-break as Zheng’s forehands missed their mark.
Kalinskaya faltered at 3-4 down within the second set and Zheng served out properly, wrapping up the set with an ace earlier than racing via the deciding set.
Zheng will transfer into the world’s high 10 when the rankings are up to date on Monday, which she didn’t learn about till it was talked about in her post-match interview.
“Thanks for letting me know that. No person tells me something!” she joked.
“That is excellent news for me. One other motivation. Particularly since final 12 months on the Australian Open I mentioned I need to be high 10 and one 12 months later, I am right here.”
