Home favourite Zheng sets up China Open final clash with Andreeva

BEIJING, Oct 10 - French Open winner Mirra Andreeva will face Olympic champion and home favourite Zheng Qinwen in the China Open final after the Russian fourth seed eased past Nikola Bartunkova and unseeded Zheng overpowered Elise Mertens in Saturday's semi-finals.

Zheng, who received a wildcard entry to the tournament after recovering from an elbow injury, became the first Chinese player to reach the final in Beijing as she outplayed Belgian 13th seed Mertens 7-5 6-2 after Andreeva crushed Bartunkova 6-2 6-2.

Zheng made an early break to build a 4-2 lead, but made a number of errors to hand Mertens the break back.

But the 24-year-old, who is chasing her first WTA 1000 title on home soil, remained calm to build a 6-5 lead, before her strong crosscourt forehand earned her another break point which she converted when Mertens netted.

Zheng dominated the second set to secure her second clash with Andreeva, having beaten the Russian when they met in the 2024 Beijing quarter-finals.

Andreeva took an hour and 14 minutes to beat Bartunkova and reach her second WTA 1000 final of the year.

Czech Bartunkova committed 20 unforced errors, twice as many as Andreeva, as the world number five hit 27 winners to clinch victory.

"Just tried to play aggressive, I'm really happy with how I was playing. I really tried to be brave no matter what, and super happy with my performance today," Andreeva said. REUTERS