And then there were four.
The China Open quarterfinalists were a rather unlikely final eight, with only one top five seed among them. The semifinalists are even more surprising, with only one player inside the Top 15, a wild card and three players looking for their first career WTA 1000 title.
Home favorite Zheng Qinwen upset sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina to book her semifinal spot. She'll take on Elise Mertens, who beat Iga Swiatek for the first time.
In the second semifinal, Mirra Andreeva, fresh off her first WTA Finals qualification, will play rising star Nikola Bartunkova. Andreeva beat Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarterfinals, and Bartunkova upset fellow Czech Karolina Muchova.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of the semifinals in Beijing.
[WC] Zheng Qinwen vs. [13] Elise Mertens
Zheng leads the head-to-head 1-0
While the rest of the top players on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz were competing in Cincinnati in August, Zheng was down in Florida, having a much-needed training block. The decision to skip Cincinnati to get right for the rest of the season proved to be a fruitful one. The former World No. 4 came through qualifying to reach the US Open quarterfinals, and has exceeded that result in Beijing, reaching the semis as a wild card. She's often taken the scenic route to wins in Beijing, as she did in New York, with three-set victories in each of her first four matches.
Friday's quarterfinal against Svitolina, her toughest opponent to date in Beijing, told a different story. Zheng mercifully won in straights, setting the tone for the match with an early break. She would break twice more in the opening set to take the lead. Both players held until the tiebreak in the second, but Zheng came up clutch in the tiebreaker, consistent with her theme over the past two months.Â
Coming into this match, nine of Zheng's last 10 matches had gone to a third set, so she's well-equipped to win when it's late and close. She's won 12 of her last 13 matches overall.
She'll face Mertens, who's also had some close calls in Beijing. She trailed by a break in the third set against Katie Volynets in her first match, and also needed three to get past Jelena Ostapenko. But she's gotten stronger and more confident with every match, and that was evident in straight-set wins over multiple-time Grand Slam champions Coco Gauff and Swiatek. In the 7-6 (0), 6-3 win over Swiatek on Friday, Mertens was highly efficient on serve, winning 87 percent of her first-serve points. She was equally effective on the return, never giving Swiatek the opportunity to break.
Mertens is into her first WTA 1000 semifinal in five years, when she reached the final four in Dubai in 2021. She's made this stage three times at WTA 1000s, but never won a title. She's pulling double duty, as she so often does, and will play the doubles semifinal on Saturday alongside Diana Shnaider.Â
But the top priority, she told reporters after the match, is Zheng.
"Recovery is key," she said. "Eat, sleep and repeat the same. Yeah, just focus on the singles first. That's definitely the goal."
Zheng and Mertens have played once before, in Charleston last year. Zheng won that match 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
[4] Mirra Andreeva vs. [26] Nikola Bartunkova
Andreeva leads the head-to-head 1-0
Bartunkova is having the tournament of her young career.
The latest in a long line of established and rising Czech stars, the 20-year-old took out World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka last week, the biggest win of her career, and has carried that momentum into her first career WTA 1000 semifinal. (It's only her third career WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz semifinal.) The win over Sabalenka was stunningly routine, and so too was her quarterfinal win over countrywoman Karolina Muchova on Thursday.
Bartunkova started strong and finished even stronger, winning the first five games and the final seven games against the far more accomplished and experienced Muchova, 10 years her senior. The scoreline required a double take: 6-3, 6-0 in just 67 minutes. Bartunkova, who has often been compared to Muchova and knows her game very well, beat the World No. 8 at her own game, with variety, exceptional touch and the unique ability to hit any shot from anywhere on the court. Bartunkova was also aggressive, employing a first-strike mentality that didn't allow Muchova to get settled and dictate points. In the second game of the opening set, Bartunkova hit four consecutive deep returns to Muchova's feet, resulting in four errors and a quick break. That game gave her the early edge and she never looked back.Â
Her semifinal opponent, Andreeva, also has the advantage in accolades. But unlike Muchova, she's actually older than the teenage Andreeva. The 19-year-old French Open champion has had a relatively smooth path to the semifinals, winning eight consecutive sets after dropping the opener in her first-round match. Andreeva needed two tiebreaks to get past Alexandrova on Thursday, her first win against the veteran in three tries, but it was murky at times. Alexandrova served for the opening set at 5-3 and later led 6-5, and Andreeva let a 5-2 lead slip away in the second. But she prevailed in the most crucial moments, winning five of the final six points in the second-set tiebreaker.
Andreeva had 23 errors to 16 unforced errors, including a sparkling 15-to-5 ratio in the second, and was opportunistic in her return games, converting four of her seven break-point opportunities.
It will be the second match between these two in as many months. Andreeva beat Bartunkova 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the third round of the US Open.
"Even though I won [at the] US Open, I still felt like the match was tough," Andreeva told reporters. "A lot of up and downs. I think this match is going to be very entertaining for people to watch. She's an amazing player. I'm super excited to play her again."
