Berliner Boersenzeitung - Gauff sets up decider with Zheng at WTA Finals

EUR -
AED 3.938479
AFN 72.914507
ALL 98.273644
AMD 415.153644
ANG 1.933522
AOA 978.447316
ARS 1065.013219
AUD 1.629363
AWG 1.930079
AZN 1.82711
BAM 1.945759
BBD 2.166121
BDT 128.197217
BGN 1.956345
BHD 0.404163
BIF 3109.572424
BMD 1.072266
BND 1.417982
BOB 7.429589
BRL 6.152562
BSD 1.072863
BTN 90.51205
BWP 14.228571
BYN 3.510881
BYR 21016.42052
BZD 2.1624
CAD 1.492359
CDF 3073.115756
CHF 0.939053
CLF 0.037708
CLP 1040.484803
CNY 7.698019
CNH 7.63378
COP 4674.952627
CRC 548.767972
CUC 1.072266
CUP 28.415058
CVE 109.911477
CZK 25.259812
DJF 190.563598
DKK 7.4598
DOP 64.845351
DZD 143.032869
EGP 52.835878
ERN 16.083995
ETB 130.284515
FJD 2.42359
FKP 0.820465
GBP 0.829992
GEL 2.916983
GGP 0.820465
GHS 17.601295
GIP 0.820465
GMD 76.671173
GNF 9253.659008
GTQ 8.293201
GYD 224.451672
HKD 8.336389
HNL 26.871411
HRK 7.386875
HTG 141.171456
HUF 407.198552
IDR 16786.168917
ILS 4.020796
IMP 0.820465
INR 90.481213
IQD 1404.668922
IRR 45134.375558
ISK 148.766647
JEP 0.820465
JMD 170.20843
JOD 0.760348
JPY 163.67614
KES 138.322736
KGS 92.433433
KHR 4364.124433
KMF 493.644665
KPW 965.039476
KRW 1499.246878
KWD 0.328832
KYD 0.893986
KZT 528.119607
LAK 23514.801496
LBP 96844.630524
LKR 313.867297
LRD 203.091292
LSL 18.904465
LTL 3.166124
LVL 0.648604
LYD 5.2009
MAD 10.611688
MDL 19.240704
MGA 4975.31625
MKD 61.451172
MMK 3482.679288
MNT 3643.561097
MOP 8.590169
MRU 42.816002
MUR 49.75717
MVR 16.566921
MWK 1861.454759
MXN 21.634157
MYR 4.699212
MZN 68.521819
NAD 18.90446
NGN 1788.626462
NIO 39.432637
NOK 11.79472
NPR 144.820624
NZD 1.813437
OMR 0.412628
PAB 1.072853
PEN 4.042846
PGK 4.304882
PHP 62.679371
PKR 298.144061
PLN 4.325898
PYG 8388.708377
QAR 3.903854
RON 4.977572
RSD 116.980874
RUB 104.59914
RWF 1460.962906
SAR 4.0275
SBD 8.943509
SCR 14.541819
SDG 644.972153
SEK 11.594742
SGD 1.421508
SHP 0.820465
SLE 24.501684
SLL 22484.885861
SOS 612.26445
SRD 37.497551
STD 22193.748611
SVC 9.387467
SYP 2694.101668
SZL 18.904452
THB 36.687634
TJS 11.404047
TMT 3.763655
TND 3.344939
TOP 2.511359
TRY 36.856587
TTD 7.290377
TWD 34.580984
TZS 2862.951522
UAH 44.288713
UGX 3926.73529
USD 1.072266
UYU 44.817872
UZS 13757.177668
VEF 3884341.194834
VES 47.874003
VND 27101.532073
VUV 127.301648
WST 3.003615
XAF 652.589182
XAG 0.031788
XAU 0.000394
XCD 2.897854
XDR 0.804349
XOF 651.938299
XPF 119.331742
YER 267.878982
ZAR 19.172477
ZMK 9651.687743
ZMW 29.206999
ZWL 345.269328
  • RBGPF

    0.0100

    61.4

    +0.02%

  • BCC

    1.4700

    142.32

    +1.03%

  • SCS

    0.0600

    13.14

    +0.46%

  • NGG

    -0.3600

    63.94

    -0.56%

  • CMSC

    0.1600

    24.84

    +0.64%

  • GSK

    -0.3700

    36.29

    -1.02%

  • RELX

    0.3200

    47.98

    +0.67%

  • RIO

    -3.0400

    64.43

    -4.72%

  • CMSD

    0.2350

    25.125

    +0.94%

  • BCE

    0.3000

    28.37

    +1.06%

  • BTI

    -0.0100

    35.39

    -0.03%

  • JRI

    0.1600

    13.53

    +1.18%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0700

    7.14

    -0.98%

  • VOD

    -0.0100

    9.31

    -0.11%

  • AZN

    -0.2000

    64.49

    -0.31%

  • BP

    -0.8800

    28.93

    -3.04%

Gauff sets up decider with Zheng at WTA Finals
Gauff sets up decider with Zheng at WTA Finals / Photo: Fayez NURELDINE - AFP

Gauff sets up decider with Zheng at WTA Finals

World number three Coco Gauff and number seven Zheng Qinwen will square off in the championship match of the WTA Finals in Riyadh after claiming impressive victories in the semis on Friday.

Text size:

The 20-year-old Gauff knocked out world number one Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(7/4), 6-3 to become the youngest player to reach the final at the season-ending championships since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.

Zheng, a gold medallist in singles at the Olympic Games this year, reached the final on her debut appearance at the season-ending showpiece with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.

Gauff improved to 5-4 head-to-head against Sabalenka, and was the more stable player in their semi-final, as she saved nine of 13 break points throughout the match.

"I'm happy with the way I played. I know against Aryna, she's always going to be a tough match. She's world number one for a reason," the 2023 US Open champion said.

Gauff beat Zheng in their sole previous meeting, on clay in Rome earlier this season, and the American used to be coached by Pere Riba, who currently works with the Chinese player.

"She's playing great tennis," Gauff said of Zheng.

"Just playing confident tennis will help me and give me the best shot at winning. I'm not really nervous. Year-end to me has always been a bonus and being here is already a privilege."

With a combined age of 42 years and 271 days, the match-up between Zheng and Gauff on Saturday will feature the youngest combined age for the two finalists at the event since Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams in 2004.

In front of a buoyant crowd at King Saud University Indoor Arena, Sabalenka was under pressure in her first service game, needing eight-and-a-half minutes to hold for 1-all, after saving two break points.

Four forehand errors from Gauff cost her the next game as Sabalenka broke for a 2-1 advantage but the Belarusian's lead was short-lived, as she immediately got broken at love.

The pair were neck and neck until Sabalenka broke through in game 11, drawing the error from Gauff to give herself a chance to serve for the opening set.

A clever short ball from Gauff resulted in a Sabalenka mistake and the set fittingly went to a tiebreak.

The American raced to a 6-1 lead in the breaker and finally clinched the 59-minute set on her fourth opportunity.

- 'Feels so special' -

The second set was a different story, with Gauff taking the helm and breaking twice to build a 4-1 gap.

In a marathon sixth game, Sabalenka needed eight break points to get one of the breaks back but her effort was nullified by Gauff, who took four points in a row on her opponent's serve to surge ahead 5-2.

The Floridian couldn't serve out the win but kept up the pressure on Sabalenka's serve to reach the final after one hour and 49 minutes of sheer battle.

Earlier in the day, 22-year-old Zheng needed one hour and 40 minutes to overcome Krejcikova in their semi-final encounter, firing nine aces along the way.

Zheng led 6-3, 3-0 before the eighth-seeded Krejcikova launched a comeback attempt but the Chinese star regained control of the match to make it two wins from two clashes with the Czech.

"It feels so special because this is my first WTA Finals and right now I'm in the final, which is unbelievable. She's a really good player, today we gave a good match," said Zheng, who is bidding to become the first player to win the WTA Finals on her maiden appearance since Ashleigh Barty in 2019.

"It was tricky because at 3-0 I think I dropped my performance, suddenly my performance went down and she played more free and I was suddenly 3-4 down. I gave so much control to myself to not panic too much. It shows I was mentally strong in that moment."

Since the event's inauguration in 1972, Zheng is only the second Asian player to reach the decider at the WTA Finals after Li Na pulled off that feat in 2013.

(A.Berg--BBZ)