Zheng powers into Beijing last eight with three-set win over Charaeva

Zheng Qinwen continued the strong form she displayed at last month's US Open, reaching her second consecutive quarterfinal with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Alina Charaeva on Tuesday in Beijing.

Beijing: Scores | Order of play | Draws

Zheng needed 2 hours and 11 minutes to advance to the Beijing quarterfinals for the second time in four appearances. Between Beijing and Wuhan, she has reached three WTA 1000 quarterfinals on home soil, tying Li Na and Zhang Shuai for the most by a Chinese player since the format was introduced in 1990.

The win was Zheng's first against Charaeva at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level and came one day before her 24th birthday.

"I'm just really appreciative to have won this match because [there were] some ups and downs," Zheng said in her post-match press conference. "But I'm just happy to be on court and in the end get the win because everybody knows it's my last day of [being] 23 years old.

"I hope my team prepared a good birthday gift for me."

Following a familiar pattern

Each of Zheng's four wins in Beijing have gone the distance, and three have followed a familiar script: win the first set, drop the second and rebound in the third. That was the case again Tuesday night.

Zheng won the opening set in dominant fashion, hitting 14 winners while Charaeva posted an improbable ratio of zero winners to unforced errors. But the script flipped in the second set, when Charaeva won all 14 of her first-serve points and converted both break-point opportunities to force a decider.

Zheng seized control early in the third set. The Olympic gold medalist raced to a 5-2 lead, then overcame a late break that brought Charaeva back on serve at 5-4 before her fifth break of the match sealed another three-set victory.

Zheng has now won seven of her past eight three-set matches at tour level, with her only loss during that stretch coming against eventual champion Elena Rybakina at the US Open.

"I would say that physically I wasn't the best, but I'm still holding on," Zheng said. "I've had a lot of three-set matches. I got some good wins in the first set. I think I have to solve [how] to keep my consistency and focus longer, but I feel my endurance is quite good. Of course, there's always something I could improve physically."

First meeting with Svitolina awaits

Zheng will face No. 6 seed Elina Svitolina for the first time after the Ukrainian defeated No. 21 seed Ann Li 6-2, 6-3 in 1 hour and 31 minutes on Tuesday night to reach her 29th career WTA 1000 quarterfinal.

In doing so, Svitolina surpassed Karolina Pliskova for sole possession of 10th place on the all-time since the format's introduction in 2009. She also improved to 2-0 against Li in their career meetings.

Svitolina can reach a 17th career WTA 1000 semifinal when she faces Zheng in a highly anticipated first meeting. Zheng will seek her fourth WTA 1000 semifinal as she continues her pursuit of the biggest title of her career outside of the Olympics.

Zheng carries a formidable arsenal into the matchup. She has hit the most winners of any player at this year's China Open (151), and only three players have served more aces than Zheng (285) in WTA main-draw matches this season: Rybakina, Linda Noskova and Aryna Sabalenka.