In a mature turnaround, Zheng Qinwen reaches first major semifinal at Australian Open

Ten years after Li Na won the Australian Open women’s singles title, Zheng Qinwen is two victories away from following in the Chinese groundbreaker’s footsteps.

On Wednesday evening, Zheng overcame Anna Kalinskaya, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-1, to reach her first major semifinal—four months after making her Grand Slam quarterfinal debut at the US Open. The Shiyan native is projected to break the Top 10 for the first time with her Melbourne Park run.

The 21-year-old’s result inside Rod Laver Arena was the reward of trusting her best tennis would eventually come after seeing an up-and-down opening set slip away.

“I just told myself, stayed focused, don’t think any more about the first set. I’m so happy right now, really excited,” Zheng told Jelena Dokic on court. “I’m really happy to be in the semifinals, especially with a good performance like this.”

Zheng broke Kalinskaya twice in her first three return games, but couldn’t consolidate on either occasion after making just six of 16 first serves to start the contest. At 3-3, Kalinskaya recovered from 15-40 with a pair of winners and held by outhitting her opponent in a 15-shot exchange.

A shanked crosscourt backhand by the No. 12 seed put her opponent within two points of the set, before Zheng carved a nifty forehand drop shot and soon reached 5-5 with a well-executed serve +1 forehand winner combination.

While both players sprayed unforced errors in the early goings of the tie-break, it was Zheng who saw two mini breaks go wasted with head-scratching errors. Later down 4-5, she missed a forehand wide on the 16^th shot of a rally—and a composed Kalinskaya pounced with a backhand down-the-line return winner off a second serve to clinch it.

Deuce was brought up in three of the first five games to open set two, but neither wavered in posting seven consecutive holds. Zheng, who had been looking to pull the trigger more frequently, then made her chess move.

A deep backhand return down the middle brought up 15-30. Two points later, Zheng returned down the middle again with a looping forehand to handcuff her opponent, and broke for 5-3 by using a shot both players often looked for during the contest—backhand line—to force the error. Zheng pushed the encounter into a decider with a commanding closing game capped off by an ace.

Though Kalinskaya survived a 10-point game to launch the decider, Zheng swept 12 consecutive points with pin-point aggression and a focused demeanor. She poured it on by showing off her defensive capabilities in securing a double break.

Kalinskaya then called for an on-court medical timeout to have her right leg worked on. The interruption didn’t’ faze Zheng, who added three successive aces to her highlight reel when play resumed. She finished off the world No. 75 by claiming the final six games—and nine of the last 10 overall.

For a place in the final, Zheng looks to halt qualifier Dayana Yastremska. The Ukrainian has also posted her best showing at a Grand Slam event, having added to her fairytale fortnight by defeating Linda Noskova, 6-3, 6-4.