Amid an utter shocker of a top half of the draw where many unheralded names found their way through amid the demise of Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina among others, Qinwen Zheng is one of the only players who was expected to find her way into the latter stages. But she will face a qualifier in Dayana Yastremska in her first Grand Slam semi-final on Thursday January 25 at the Australian Open.
Our preview takes a look at each players' run so far in Melbourne and how they stack up against each other ahead of the biggest match of their careers. The winner will take on Aryna Sabalenka or Coco Gauff in the final on Saturday January 27 and concludes an insane 15 days in Australia, especially on this side.
Known as Queenwen to tennis fans, Qinwen Zheng has done what many have expected to happen at some point and not only reach a Grand Slam breakthrough but also the top 10 in the WTA Rankings which is set come what may against Yastremska next up. She will become the first woman since her idol Li Na did so ten years ago when she also won the Australian Open title. A cool coincidence and it could herald the second ever Chinese winner this weekend.
A lot has been expected of Qinwen Zheng who was crowned the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2022 and at only 21 has her best years of her career ahead of her. She has won two WTA titles including Palermo and Zhengzhou both in 2023 as well as the gold medal at the Asian Games and all of this while also going through a quite fractious and well documented coaching split with Wim Fissette.
Helping to anchor her to success, Zheng was dumped for Fissette to return to Naomi Osaka, but it seems the tears and hurt have spurred on the Barcelona based player as she has since joined forces with Pere Riba for a partnership that is already paying dividends and if she reaches the final, it could be the Spaniard's former protege in Coco Gauff vs his current one in Qinwen. Such has been the nature of the fall in the top names, it has been a run without facing anyone remotely close to the top 20 as she has seen off Ashlyn Krueger, Katie Boulter, Yafan Wang, Oceane Dodin and surprise package, Anna Kalinskaya. Even her next opponent has only got close to the top 20 by one place in her previous past. So the highest ranked opponent she will face could be in the final. But amid the expectation as a result of being the biggest name left in her section she has dealt with it to seal a spot in the semi-finals where a qualifier awaits.
Both players are in maiden Grand Slam semi-finals, but perhaps Dayana Yastremska's run is the most surprising of any of the players who were left in that section during the Last 16. Coming all the way from qualifying, she joked that she'd felt like she'd be in Australia for months and she has been playing since the dying embers of 2023 basically. After losing opening round to Daria Saville in Brisbane, she headed to Melbourne and was the top name in qualifying and drew the seventh seed in Marketa Vondrousova.
But given the fall off for the Czech ace since winning Wimbledon, it is no shock perhaps that she managed to conjure up that win. She then saw off Varvara Gracheva, but this is where it got interesting as she saw off American rising star, Emma Navarro who amid not much praise has forced herself into being a seed for the first time and has been one of the most in-form on the WTA Tour as of late. Following that, she swept aside Victoria Azarenka. A two-time champion in Melbourne who was heavily expected to win. Unknown territory followed as she faced Linda Noskova who benefitted from a poor Iga Swiatek and an Elina Svitolina retirement to move through and it was a class above from Yastremska in their quarter-final. Only the fifth qualifier in history to reach the Quarter-Finals of a main draw, she is the first since Emma Raducanu and her epic US Open run. A player who it seems has been around forever despite only being 23, but also one that has had to battle back after limbo following an initial failed drugs test which she was exonerated for. But has had to battle back from, this is the ultimate success story as a result for Yastremska and one she will aim to add a final chapter to.
Despite that though, it can be perceived that Qinwen Zheng will make history again and reach the final and show her class against her first opponent with any pedigree as such so far this tournament. But it could go either way, likely both in two sets.
Prediction: Qinwen Zheng in two sets
Qinwen Zheng will become the 1st Chinese woman to reach the top 10 since her idol, Li Na, when the new rankings come out. Her run at this Australian Open has been poetic. In 2014, Li Na became the first Chinese woman to ever win a Grand Slam singles title. Exactly 10 years…
