On January 24, Beijing time, on the 11th day of the 2024 Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen faced off against Russian player Karinskaya in the women's singles 1 4 finals. Zheng Qinwen lost a set in the first set tie-break 6-7 (4), and then Zheng Qinwen won two sets in a row 6-3 and 6-1, and finally Zheng Qinwen eliminated Karinskaya with a total score of 2-1, advancing to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time in his career, and also ranking among the top 10 in the world for the first time, setting a number of records and breaking through again.
[Record data].
First, Zheng Qinwen entered the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time in his career, creating the best record of his Australian Open career.
Second, Zheng Qinwen reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the first time, creating the best Grand Slam record of her career, and her best record in a Grand Slam in the past was reaching the quarterfinals at the 2023 US Open.
Third, Zheng Qinwen is 21 years old, setting a record for the youngest Chinese Jinhua to advance to the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Fourth, Zheng Qinwen became the third Chinese Golden Flower player to advance to the semifinals of the Australian Open, the first two being Li Na and Zheng Jie.
Fifth, Zheng Qinwen became the fourth Chinese Golden Flower player to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam.
Sixth, after Zheng Qinwen advanced to the semifinals of the Australian Open, he ranked among the top 10 in the world for the first time.
【Player Profile】
Zheng Qinwen, the No. 12 seed in the Australian Open women's singles, became the highest seeded Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam tournament after Li Na. Zheng Qinwen has already secured her position as China's No. 1 sister, and her best record in a Grand Slam tournament is reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open, so she is naturally eager to continue to break through this year.
[Journey to Advancement].
Zheng Qinwen reversed American player Kruger 2-1 in the first round, eliminated American player Usain Bolt 2-0 in the second round, narrowly defeated Wang Yafan 2-1 in the third round, and swept Dodin 2-0 in the fourth round.
[Confrontation situation].
The only time the two sides met in their previous careers was at the WTA 250 Guadalajara 2022 when Zheng Qinwen lost 1-2 to Karinskaya.
[Match Review].
In the first set of this game, Zheng Qinwen took the lead in the first game, but Karinskaya won two games in a row, and Zheng Qinwen took a 3-2 lead again. Karinskaya broke again to tie the score, and the two sides continued to hold their respective service games, and the first 12 games were tied at 6-6. In the tie-break game, Zheng Qinwen unfortunately failed to win 4-7 and lost a set 6-7 (4).
Entering the second set, Zheng Qinwen and Karinskaya played in the first six games, and both sides each held serve to maintain a 3-3 draw. Zheng then broke the tie to suppress the opponent, taking a 5-3 lead in the first eight games, and Zheng Qinwen continued to win the set on serve to win the set to win the set 6-3.
In the third set, Karinskaya took the lead in the first game to hold serve, and Zheng Qinwen then continued to suppress the opponent, Zheng Qinwen won 6 games in a row, thus winning another set 6-1, and finally eliminated Kalinskaya with a total score of 2-1, reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time in her career and the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.