No. 1 seed Zheng Qinwen has made back-to-back WTA finals after ousting sixth-seeded Diana Shnaider 7-6 (5) 6-3 at the WTA 500 tournament in Tokyo.
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After getting off to a very fast start but then nearly blowing a big first-set lead, the Chinese tennis star managed to consolidate and get the job done in two sets 7-6 (5) 6-3.
Now, the world No. 7 is set to battle against 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who defeated Katie Boulter 6-4 6-4 in the other Tokyo semifinal.
For Zheng, it will be her fifth final of the season but also the first time that she will be going head-to-head against the American former world No. 4. Two weeks ago, the 22-year-old Chinese lost in three sets to Aryna Sabalenka in the Wuhan final.
Zheng survived drama in the first set vs Shnaider
After collecting back-to-back breaks and opening a very comfortable 4-0 lead, everything pointed toward the top seed easily winning the opener. But then, the Chinese allowed Shnaider to get one break back in the sixth game - missed out on three set points in the ninth game - and also didn't convert a set point on her serve in the 10th game.
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Serving to stay in the first set, Zheng faced a 0/30 on her serve. Fortunately for the 22-year-old, she was able to survive that game and force a tie-break. In the first-set tie-break, the No. 1 seed was 4-5 down before winning the next three points to just narrowly win the opener that lasted over an hour.
Down by a set, Shnaider started the second set with a break in the third game. However, the Russian's lead was very short-lived after the Chinese responded by winning the following four games to go 5-2 up.
Up by a set and a break, Zheng had no issues serving out for the match in the ninth game.
