Zheng solves her Sakkari conundrum

Chinese star secures first win over world No 6 to rack up yet another milestone in a year packed full of breakthroughs

Zheng Qinwen underlined her status as the future of Chinese women's tennis with a 7-6 (2), 6-3 win over sixth-ranked Maria Sakkari at the Zhengzhou Open on Wednesday.

It was the 21-year-old Zheng's fifth top-10 victory of her young career and set up a quarterfinal with Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina.

Zheng sealed victory with her 13th ace of the match, to the delight of the home fans.

The result was Zheng's first over Sakkari in three meetings. The Greek player had previously ended Zheng's Grand Slam debut in the second round of the 2022 Australian Open; Zheng also lost in three sets to Sakkari in the first round of Doha this year, despite pulling off one of the shots of the year with a tweener pass. This summer, Zheng has hit two significant milestones in her young career — a maiden title in Palermo and a first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open — and was primed to take revenge.

Ranked 24 in the world, Zheng was dealt a blow a few weeks ago when her coach, Wim Fissette, ended their partnership to go back to working with former world No 1 Naomi Osaka, who is set to return from maternity leave next season.

But the 2022 WTA Newcomer of the Year rebounded in style, clinching gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou and now taking down third seed Sakkari for the first time in three meetings.

"The game plan today was to fight for every single point and try to play aggressive when I can because the last two times I played her I was not aggressive enough and I stayed too long in the same spot," said Zheng. "I also tried to improve my first-serve percentage and return more in the middle. I had a good performance tonight, I think.

"I think tonight the fans here helped me a lot," she added.

Zheng, 21, raced out of the blocks with aggressive intent, slamming down an overhead en route to breaking Sakkari for 2-1. But the set remained close as the Guadalajara champion kept on her heels.

Six of the first nine games featured at least one break point, but only two were converted — the first by Zheng and then, when the Chinese player's backhand went awry in the eighth game, the second by Sakkari to draw level at 4-4.

Despite another flurry of winners, Zheng was unable to regain her advantage in the next game, and from a position of strength found herself having to serve to stay in the set twice. But she showed her mettle by doing so impressively, then dominating the ensuing tiebreak.

There were fewer opportunities in the second set, which was decided by a single break of serve. Zheng's backhand was on song once again, saving an early break point against her with a winner down the line and then finding a delicately sliced pass en route to capturing the Sakkari serve for 4-2.

Zheng tallied 30 winners to 28 unforced errors in total, and sealed her second match point with a 13th ace. She will next face Kalinina, who defeated qualifier Vera Zvonareva 7-5, 6-1 to reach her first quarterfinal since making the Rome final in May.

The seeds' exodus started earlier in the day when Jasmine Paolini knocked out reigning WTA Finals champion and sixth seed Caroline Garcia 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in two hours and 17 minutes.

The Italian world No 31 saved four match points on her own serve at 4-5 in the deciding set before claiming a crucial break in the 11th game to punch her ticket to the quarterfinals for a sixth time in 2023.

Like Zheng, Paolini was determined to stay on the front foot against a higher-ranked opponent, and outdid Garcia at the net throughout. She staved off all four match points serving at 4-5 in the third set, the last thanks to a brilliantly redirected angle off a deep Garcia return. The result was Paolini's third career top-10 win, and moves the 27-year-old into her fourth quarterfinal of 2023.

The 27-year-old now awaits Laura Siegemund or Liudmila Samsonova in the last eight.

"I lost to Caroline four times and it was really tough," she said.

"I think I got experience from the matches that I lost to her and I tried to do something better."