China’s Zheng Qinwen defeated countrywoman Zhu Lin 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 on Saturday to secure her place in the WTA Elite Trophy final. She will face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, who breezed through her semifinal clash with Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 6-1.
Ranked 18th in the WTA World Rankings, Zheng took 3 hours and 19 minutes to overcome Zhu. This is her eighth consecutive win in all competitions, which included her Zhengzhou Open earlier this month. She also defeated Zhu last month to win the gold medal in the Asian Games.
Haddad Maia also enters Sunday’s final in hot form, having maintained a perfect record of straight sets victories throughout her journey to the WTA Elite Trophy final. The first postseason event on the WTA calendar, the Elite Trophy features the 11 highest-ranked women’s singles players who did not qualify for next month’s WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico.
