China’s Zheng Qinwen Upsets World No.1 Sabalenka to Reach Italian Open Semifinals!
Hey tennis fans! 🎾 Have you heard the exciting news? Zheng Qinwen from China has just done something incredible at the Italian Open in Rome! 🌟
On Wednesday, Zheng faced off against Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus, who is the World No.1 player right now. That means she’s ranked the best female tennis player in the world! 😲 But Zheng wasn’t scared. She played amazingly and won the match 6-4, 6-3. This is her first time beating Sabalenka, and it’s a huge deal! 🎉
“I Finally Did It!”
After the match, Zheng was overjoyed. She said, “Finally, I broke through! I’ve always known I have the ability to beat anyone, and I’m really happy that I truly did it today.” Isn’t that inspiring? 😃
Before this match, Zheng had played against Sabalenka six times and hadn’t won any of those matches. In fact, she only won one set in all those games. But this time was different. Why? Because they played on a clay court instead of a hard court. Clay courts are made of crushed brick, shale, or stone, and the ball moves differently on them. Maybe this helped Zheng play her best! 🏟️
How the Match Went
In the first set, both players won their first two serves. In tennis, “serves” are when a player starts a point by hitting the ball into the opponent’s side. Then, Zheng managed to “break” Sabalenka’s serve in the fifth game, which means she won a game when Sabalenka was serving. This gave Zheng a 3-2 lead. She kept playing strong and won the first set! 💪
In the second set, Zheng continued her great performance. She took a 2-0 lead early on. Even though Sabalenka tried hard to come back, Zheng stayed focused. She saved two “break points” in the eighth game. A break point is when the player serving might lose the game. But Zheng didn’t let that happen! She won the second set and the match! 🏆
What’s Next?
By winning this match, Zheng has advanced to the semifinals of the Italian Open. That means she’s one of the last four players left in the tournament! She will face Coco Gauff from the USA next. Coco is also a fantastic player, so it will be an exciting match! 🤩
Let’s cheer for Zheng as she continues her journey! Go Zheng! 🇨🇳
Reference(s):
China's Zheng ousts No. 1 Sabalenka to reach Italian Open semifinals
cgtn.com
