China's Zheng Qinwen shrugged off a shaky start to beat unseeded Anna Kalinskaya 6-7(4) 6-3 6-1 and reach her first Grand Slam semifinal at Australian Open 2024.
MORE: Zheng v Kalinskaya match stats
The No. 12 seed made a string of unforced errors in the first set on Wednesday night but hit her groove midway through the second, hitting 42 winners, including 10 aces, as she pulled away for victory in the decider.
“I’m just so happy and really excited, this is my first time and I’m really happy to be in the semifinals,” said the 21-year-old Zheng, who will take on Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine for a place in the final.
Zheng is the fourth Chinese woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal, following Zheng Jie, Li Na – who won the Australian Open in 2014 – and Peng Shuai.
MORE: AO 2024 women's singles draw
Her win over Kalinskaya means she will be ranked inside the world’s top 10 for the first time when the list is updated on Monday.
“That’s good news and another motivation,” she said, after being told by Jelena Dokic in the post-match on-court interview.
“Last year at the Australian Open, I said I wanted to be in the top 10, and one year later I’m here.”
For a set and a half, though, it looked like the occasion might be a little too much for Zheng, who went into the match as favourite against the 75th-ranked Kalinskaya, who was also appearing in a first slam quarterfinal.
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Two double faults in the first game gave Zheng an early break but Kalinskaya settled better, breaking straight back. The pair swapped breaks midway through the first set but Zheng, who reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at last year’s US Open, was making uncharacteristic mistakes from the baseline.
The pair held serve to reach the tiebreak but it was Kalinskaya, who had beaten Sloane Stephens and Jasmine Paolini on her way to the last eight, who proved the more solid again, taking it 7-4 to move ahead.
The errors continued to flow from the Zheng racquet, but she held serve as the second set reached 3-3. From then, it was if a switch was flicked, the tension seeming to disappear from the 21-year-old’s shoulders.
MORE: Zheng's serve flips the script
Suddenly, her serve began to click and her groundstrokes began to flow. Leading 4-3, Zheng cut loose, breaking Kalinskaya and then, when serving for the set, finished it off with an ace down the middle.
Kalinskaya held to open the third set, but that was the last success she had as Zheng really began to hit top form. A backhand return winner gave her the break for 2-1, and a double break put her completely in control at 4-1.
Kalinskaya took a medical timeout, stretching out her right hip, but it didn’t help as Zheng hit three straight aces on her way to 5-1 and then thundered two big returns to finish off the match in style.
“She played really good today and the first set was big competition. I told myself to be focused and not think anymore about the first set,” Zheng said.
The match was played in front of Rod Laver, taking his seat in the front row of the stadium named after him.
“Of course I know the guy, but I didn’t know he was watching,” Zheng said.
“I’m only focused on the green ball and my opponent. But I’m really proud to have a legend come and watch me play. Thank you for that.”