Veronika Kudermetova
We are into the business end of the Toray Pan Pacific Open as an upbeat Qinwen Zheng faces No. 4 seed Veronika Kudermetova in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The world No. 36 has been quite impressive so far in the competition. She has won all her matches comprehensively and is yet to drop a set.
The Chinese youngster began her campaign with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 win against Misaki Doi. In the round of 16, Zheng faced a stiff challenge in the form of world No. 4 Paula Badosa. The Spaniard went into the match as the favorite but Zheng proved to be too hot to handle and eventually won the match 6-3, 6-2. In the quarter-finals, the 19-year-old managed to get past Claire Liu to reach the biggest semifinal of her career to date.
The 25-year-old is one win away from reaching her fourth final this year. After receiving a first-round bye, Kudermetova has won two matches in contrasting styles.
The Russian tennis pro began her campaign in Japan with a comprehensive performance against Fernanda Contreras Gomez. Kudermetova won the match in straight sets 6-0, 6-1. In the quarter-finals, Kudermetova faced Beatriz Haddad Maia, who has been in good form this season. Both women played their hearts out in a riveting three-set encounter that ended in three hours and fourteen minutes. Kudermetova came back from a set down to win the match 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-1.
The head-to-head stands at 0-0 as Qinwen Zheng and Veronika Kudermetova have not faced each other before.
Prediction: Qinwen Zheng to win in three sets.
More Tennis news
Follow our dedicated Tennis page for instant Tennis news and updates