by Day 6 presented more upsets as Qinwen Zheng expertly dispatched top seed Daria Kasatkina, whilst Wimbledon Champion Elena Rybakina crashed out against Beatriz Haddad Maia. Belinda Bencic broke little sweat to progress, whilst Liudmila Samsonova also progresses to the semi-final after winning her games in two sets.
Zheng’s Bullet Train
Qinwen Zheng shocked number one seed Kasatkina, taking the match in straight sets 6-1, 6-2, in just 1 hour and 20 minutes. She blunted Kasatkina’s weapons at the get-go by breaking her in her first service game and willingly attacked any looping balls. Zheng dished out an ace to take the first set in style after just 33 minutes of play.
The Chinese did not let her momentum drop and stuck to breaking Kasatkina’s serve in the first service match of the second set. On her part, Kasatkina will be disappointed to have displayed moments of quality but not the consistency to overturn Zheng’s momentum. Zheng progresses to the semis and with matches like that may just clinch her first WTA500 title.
Haddad Maia’s Star Continues to Rise
Meanwhile, Beatriz Haddad Maia did no harm to her rising star as she defeated Elena Rybakina in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. The Khazakstani will be disappointed to have lost her momentum as she had her foot in the door after having taken the first set. However, the Brazilian showed excellent tennis and determination to make her comeback and take the match. Haddad Maia could be seen creeping up the baseline on Rybakina’s serve as she looked to deconstruct Rybakina’s deadly weapon which paid off. On her part, Rybakina played some excellent drop-shots but will need to gain confidence in playing a forehand down the line as her refusal to do so was something that Haddad Maia used expertly.
Rogers Rues Missed Break Points Against Bencic
Belinda Bencic defeated American Shelby Rogers in straight sets, 77-65, 6-2. Rogers will be disappointed not to have converted her chance to break Bencic on multiple occasions in the first set. It could only be decided by a tie-break that the Swiss’ narrowly won 7-5.
The critical moments lost seemed to have weighed on Rogers’ mind as the American could not recover the loss of the first set, and was thoroughly defeated in the second.
Samsonova Gets Through Despite Nerves
The final player to progress to the semis was Liudmila Samsonova who beat Veronika Kudermetova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. To her credit, Kudermetova saved three match points and seemed to have monitored Samsonova’s choke to close the match against Elise Mertens. However, Samsonova got there in the end by forcing an error from Kudermetova which yielded the match to her.
The Semi-Finals
The elimination of heavy-weights Elena Rybakina and Daria Kasatkina certainly opens up the opportunity for the remaining players.
Beatriz Haddad Maia will meet number 2 seed Belinda Bencic. The Brazilian will be bouncing from her win against Rybakina and will use that as fuel against Bencic. However, Bencic has started the year well and will want to keep the momentum going. It will be the first encounter between the two, with Haddad Maia looking to cause another upset, whilst Bencic will focus on being efficient as she eyes the final and another title.
The second semi-final will see Qinwen Zheng take on Liudmila Samsonova. The Russian has already won a WTA 500 title in her career and will certainly use her experience. However, Qinwen Zheng will have the confidence that she beat the number 1 seed to get to the semi-final and will use that as fuel in the game. She has shown ruthlessness in her play and will not give too many chances away, which will be something that Samsonova will need to take care of if she is to make the final.
The matches will be played tomorrow 11th February at the Stadium Court, at 14:00 GMT.
