For the first time in her career, Zheng Qinwen made history by reaching the top 4 of the women's singles on the grass court tour, and made headlines on the official WTA website

In the early morning of June 14, Beijing time, in the third round of the WTA500 London Station (Queen's Cup), the top seed of the tournament, Chinese Jinhua Zheng Qinwen, defeated the former US Open champion Raducanu 2:0, and entered the top 4 of the women's singles on the grass court for the first time in his career. Top seed Zheng Qinwen and unseeded American Amanda Anisimova broke new ground by winning the quarterfinals of the HSBC Championship together on Friday local time, with the two players advancing to the first semifinals of their careers on a grass court event, according to the WTA website after the match.

Zheng Qinwen advanced to the semifinals of the WTA Queen's Cup, ranking a new career high

The match was the first meeting between the two men on a professional stage and was also seen as a showdown between an Olympic champion and a Grand Slam champion. Zheng Qinwen quickly took control of the situation after fighting Raducanu to a 2-2 draw at the beginning of the first set, and won four games in a row to take the lead 6-2. In the second set, Zheng Qinwen broke the belt after falling behind 0:3, stubbornly chased the score to 2:3, gradually narrowed the gap, returned to the rhythm of the game, and finally won the second set 6:4.

Screenshot of WTA's official website

In this match, Zheng not only overcame the 2021 US Open champion's comeback after receiving support from the crowd in her hometown in the second set, but also overcame some equipment issues: she temporarily changed her shoes after slipping twice in the middle of the first set due to slippery grass, and apologized to the crowd and opponents.

The match was the first meeting between the two men on a professional stage and was also seen as a showdown between an Olympic champion and a Grand Slam champion.

Zheng Qinwen said after the match: "The second set was tricky...... I felt like my concentration was dropping and I gave her a lot of easy mistakes, especially when I remember in the first game of my second set, I didn't go without a serve on the court. "All of a sudden, it was really tough, but I'm glad I refocused. Didn't wait for the third set. It's a big change for me. ”

Zheng will face Anisimova in the semifinals, who defeated her compatriot Navarro 6-3, 6-3 in the other match to reach the semi-finals. Past head-to-head records show that Zheng Qinwen and Anisimova have met twice, and Zheng Qinwen has won both of them.