Dayana Yastremska, Zheng Qinwen in 1st Slam semis at Aussie Open،
Dayana Yastremska and Zheng Qinwen both earned places in their first Grand Slam singles semifinals, with Yastremska cruising to a straight-sets victory and Zheng recovering from a slow start.
Yastremska, the 93rd-ranked Ukrainian who was expected to advance to the main draw, earned a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Linda Noskova in 78 minutes. She is only the second qualifier to reach the women's singles semi-finals at the Australian Open in the Open era, after Christine Matison in 1978.
“It’s good to go down in history because at that time I wasn’t born, I’m 2,000 years old,” she said. “I’m super happy, very tired.”
Noskova beat No. 1 Iga Swiatek en route to the quarterfinals and struck first against Yastremska, taking a 2-1 lead in the opening set.
But Yastremska reacted immediately and from that moment Noskova always caught up. The Ukrainian broke again to lead 5-2 and served for the set. A break, in the seventh game of the second, was enough to seal the victory.
“I was a little nervous, but at the same time tired. I think I was a little too emotional,” Yastremska said. “Before my match, I was angry with the training [with] my trainer. But that's okay, because I could put my emotions aside. Yeah, another step has been taken.
After losing the first set, Zheng, seeded 12th, was able to outclass Russian Anna Kalinskaya for a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1 victory.
Kalinskaya, playing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, provided the match's opening break with a double fault, but Zheng immediately returned the favor and the pair were locked until the tiebreak after more shaky performances in the service.
Zheng, who reached the quarterfinals of the US Open last year, came under pressure when she hit a forehand wide to give Kalinskaya two chances to win the first set, and the Russian finished with a big backhand.
Zheng then trailed 3-2 in the second set before winning 10 of the next 11 games. After Kalinskaya held her serve to open the third, Zheng won 12 straight points. She led 4-1 when Kalinskaya needed a medical timeout to treat her right leg and returned to finish the match quickly after the break.
“Really excited. It's the first time for me,” said Zheng, who will enter the top 10 after the Australian Open. “Really happy to be in the semi-final, especially with such a good performance like this.”
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and US Open winner Coco Gauff will also play Thursday for a place in the final.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
