Defending champion Zheng will face Muchova in Palermo final

Top seed Zheng Qinwen's title defense at the Palermo Ladies Open will have to go through No.2 seed Karolina Muchova. On Saturday, the defending champion booked a spot in her second consecutive Palermo final after defeating Diane Parry 7-5, 6-4 in the semifinals.

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The victory boosted the 21-year-old into her second final of the year and first since making her maiden major final at the Australian Open in January. 

No.35 Muchova followed suit with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Irina-Camelia Begu to advance to her first Hologic WTA Tour final since 2023 Cincinnati. Palermo is Muchova's third tournament of the year, after wrist surgery left her sidelined since the US Open. It is her first clay-court tournament since making the Roland Garros final last year.

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Sunday's final will pit the top two seeds against each other for the second time in their careers. Muchova won their first meeting in three sets on the clay in Madrid in 2022. Looking to defend a title for the first time in her career, Zheng has not lost a set this week, posting wins over Sara Errani, Petra Martic, Jaqueline Cristian and No.4 seed Parry.

"Tonight I was more pumped than other matches," Zheng said on court. "She played really well and she has a tough game. She has a really good touch on clay court. It's not easy to play against her. She has a lot of change of rhythm, variation."

In a rematch of their three-set clash in the second round of Palermo last year, Zheng dominated Parry behind her first serve to seal the win in 1 hour and 38 minutes. The Chinese star was broken just once in the match and won over 84 percent of her first-serve points. 

Zheng fired 25 winners to just 10 unforced errors in the match. Parry kept the match in balance behind 24 winners of her own, but could not find a way through Zheng's superior serving day. 

Zheng is bidding to win her third career title and first of the season. Muchova, 27, is looking to win her second title and first since 2019 Seoul. She has not defeated a Top 10 player since besting Aryna Sabalenka in the Cincinnati semifinals.

Muchova needed just 74 minutes to ease past Begu. Behind 20 winners, Muchova powered through her service games and saved the sole break point she faced. She broke Begu's serve five times.