Paula Badosa qualified for the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing on Thursday by beating Zhang Shuai (6-1, 7-6). The 19th player in the world put an end to the adventure of the Chinese, 35 years old, ex-22nd in the world who fell to 595th place due to an injury, who before this tournament remained on 24 defeats in a row on the circuit, the second worst series since the start of the Open era in 1968.
Zhang, who had won his previous four matches in Beijing without dropping a set, conceded the first set in 23 minutes, winning only six points behind his entry. But Badosa’s game then suddenly went haywire, particularly on the serve, and his opponent obtained a break point at the start of the second set, converted with style. The Chinese player started to let go of all her shots and her too many risks allowed the Spaniard to come back to 3-3.
At 5-6, Zhang had to fight to win the right to play the tie-break, under the encouragement of the public finally awake. In the decisive game, however, she ended up giving in, despite great resistance. The former world No.2 will face the American Coco Gauff, 6th in the world, or the Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva, ranked 115th and from qualifying, in the semi-final.
