Australian Open 2024: Zheng beats Yastremska, books maiden Grand Slam final berth

China’s Zheng Qinwen will face defending champion Aryna Sabalenka after 6-4, 6-4 win over qualifier Dayana Yastremska.

China’s Zheng Qinwen celebrates after defeating Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska in semifinal of Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia on Thursday. | Photo Credit: AP

China’s Zheng Qinwen ended the fairytale run of qualifier Dayana Yastremska at the Australian Open on Thursday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory to reach her first Grand Slam final, where she will face defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.

The points were short and sharp for most of the battle and followed the same pattern in both sets, with the two swapping breaks early on and then 12th seed Zheng snaring the extra break in the seventh game both times.

“It feels unbelievable,” Zheng said on court.

Through in two!

Qinwen Zheng wins her place in Saturday's #AusOpen Women's Singles final!

She defeats Dayana Yastremska 6-4 6-4 to set up a meeting with Aryna Sabalenka.#AusOpen • @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennispic.twitter.com/jlKeIDwIIl

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2024

“I’m super excited to have such a great performance today and get into the final. My opponent played unbelievable tennis and has really good baseline strokes. It’s tough to explain my feelings now.”

Zheng, who has rained down more aces by far than any other woman at Melbourne Park in her journey to the final, is bidding to match her hero, Li Na, who became the first Chinese Grand Slam winner by taking the Australian Open crown 10 years ago.

But after beating a string of lower ranked players to reach the final, the 21-year-old will now face a formidable opponent in Belarusian second seed Sabalenka, who has not lost a set in the past two weeks.

Zheng kept up the pressure on Yastremska in the first set, blasting cross-court winners off both wings, and left the Ukrainian clutching her abdomen in pain.

After taking a medical timeout off court, the 23-year-old returned to court with Zheng holding in the next game.

The Ukrainian extended the set winning the following game with a clever drop shot, but she piled on the errors in the next game, handing Zheng the first set.

The 12th seed started off stronger in the second set, holding her first service game to love and then snatching an early break after a string of errors from Yastremska, but the Ukrainian broke straight back.

Zheng broke again in the seventh game, helped by a double fault from Yastremska and a shanked shot that flew long. Yastremska bravely held in the next game, with Zheng fluffing an easy smash, but the Chinese player snared the match with an unreturnable serve.