Belgium's Elise Mertens continued her remarkable run at the China Open WTA 1000 tennis tournament by eliminating Poland's Iga Swiatek, former world number one and currently ninth, on Friday in the quarter-finals, two days after defeating fourth-seeded American Coco Gauff.
World number 19 Mertens secured a 7-6 (7-0), 6-3 victory over Swiatek, the 2023 champion who squandered a golden opportunity to narrow the gap with her rivals in the race to qualify for the season-ending WTA Finals scheduled in Indian Wells between November 8 and 15.
The 30-year-old player, a native of Leuven, will compete on Saturday in the semi-finals of both the singles event—where she faces China's Zheng Qinwen (world number 54)—and the doubles alongside Russia's Diana Shnaider.
Mertens had not reached the semi-finals of a WTA 1000 tournament—the highest-ranking tier on the WTA calendar outside of the Grand Slams—since the Dubai tournament in 2021.
The Belgian previously reached a career-high ranking of world number 12 in November 2018 and has claimed ten WTA singles titles. She has now achieved three consecutive victories against top-ten opponents, having ousted Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, currently world number one, at Wimbledon, followed by Gauff in Beijing.
On the other hand, Swiatek failed to capitalize on the exits of her rivals, seventh-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina and eighth-seeded Czech Karolina Muchova, from the quarter-finals.
The Polish player occupies tenth place in the "Race" rankings, which determine the eight qualifiers for the year-end WTA Finals, and will need to accumulate a significant number of points at the Wuhan 1000 tournament between October 12 and 18, followed by the Ningbo 500 tournament from October 19 to 25, and Tokyo from October 26 to November 1, to secure her spot in the tournament she has not missed in any of its last five editions.
Zheng rediscovers her best form
Earlier on Friday, China's Zheng secured her spot in the semi-finals by defeating Ukraine's Svitolina 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).
Zheng said after the victory, "I was very nervous, and I really wanted to pull off this win," expressing satisfaction with her performance, which was "very aggressive in the crucial moments."
The Paris Olympic champion, participating in the tournament via a wildcard from the organizers, will attempt to reach the final in the Chinese capital for the first time, after her journey stopped in the semi-finals two years ago.
After dropping outside the top 100 at the end of spring following elbow surgery that sidelined her for months, alongside modest results at the start of the season, the former world number four has rediscovered her best form since the US Open.
In New York, the 24-year-old Chinese player came through three qualifying rounds before reaching the quarter-finals, having knocked out six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek along the way.
Zheng has previously reached the final of the Australian Open, the Wuhan 1000 tournament, and the WTA Finals in Riyadh in 2024, but has yet to win a WTA 1000 title.
The first semi-final scheduled for Saturday brings together Russia's Mirra Andreeva, world number five, and the Czech Republic's Nikola Bartunkova, the tournament's surprise package and world number 34.
