Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open: Zheng shocks top seed Kasatkina to reach semi-final

Chinese Qinwen Zheng advanced to the last four of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open by defeating Russian Daria Kasatkina, the top seed, 6-1, 6-2 on Friday.

Zheng, ranked No 29 and in only her fourth quarter-final at tour level, will face the winner of the match between No 4 seed Veronika Kudermetova and No 8 seed Liudmila Samsonova next.

This is Zheng’s third career top 10 win, adding to her victories last year against Paula Badosa (then ranked No 4) in Tokyo and Ons Jabeur (then ranked No 5) in Toronto.

The 20-year-old Chinese won against Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino (6-3, 6-3) and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, the No 5 seed (7-6 (10), 6-1) earlier in the tournament.

In the previous round, Kasatkina, ranked No 8, beat Swiss Jil Teichmann (1-6, 6-0, 6-2).

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