{"id":3789,"date":"2023-10-28T23:06:25","date_gmt":"2023-10-29T03:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/sport\/zheng-qinwen-beatriz-haddad-maia-to-play-in-wta-elite-final\/28\/10\/2023\/"},"modified":"2023-10-28T23:06:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-29T03:06:25","slug":"zheng-qinwen-beatriz-haddad-maia-to-play-in-wta-elite-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/sport\/zheng-qinwen-beatriz-haddad-maia-to-play-in-wta-elite-final\/28\/10\/2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Zheng Qinwen, Beatriz Haddad Maia to play in WTA Elite final"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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ZHUHAI, China — China’s top player Zheng Qinwen<\/a> prevailed against compatriot Zhu Lin<\/a> 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 on Saturday to become just the second Chinese player to make the final of the WTA Elite Trophy.<\/p>\n

The 18th-ranked Zheng needed 3 hours, 19 minutes to see off the 37th-ranked Zhu, who entered the tournament as a wild card.<\/p>\n

Zheng has now won eight matches in a row, including winning the Zhengzhou Open this month. She also won the Asian Games gold medal, against Zhu, last month.<\/p>\n

Beatriz Haddad Maia<\/a> will be Zheng’s opponent in Sunday’s championship match after the eighth-seeded Brazilian stormed into her first final of the year with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over sixth-seeded Daria Kasatkina<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Zheng won the first set of Saturday’s semifinal in 80 minutes, which included saving six break points and then a further two set points for Zhu before breaking in the 12th game of the set to take the lead.<\/p>\n

Zhu responded by taking another marathon set to force a decider. But Zheng’s serve was a telling difference as she powered to a 5-1 lead and then saved two break points to hold and clinch the win.<\/p>\n

Zheng will be only the second Chinese player to play in the final after Wang Qiang finished runner-up to former world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in 2018.<\/p>\n

Earlier, 19th-ranked Haddad Maia maintained her perfect record this week with her third consecutive straight-sets victory. The 93-minute win over the 17th-ranked Kasatkina followed her opening upset victory over second-seeded Madison Keys<\/a> and then Caroline Garcia<\/a> to win the group.<\/p>\n

The Brazilian player’s victory came on the back of her strong serve as she won 80% of her first-service points and never faced a break point against the Russian player.<\/p>\n

The 12-player tournament is the first postseason event on the women’s tour. It features the 11 highest-ranked singles players who did not qualify for next month’s WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico. Zhu was the final entry as a wild card.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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ZHUHAI, China — China’s top player Zheng Qinwen prevailed against compatriot Zhu Lin 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 on Saturday to become just the