Hey there, fellow tennis enthusiasts It’s your girl Mia Johnson-Carter here, living the dream in Miami. I’ve got some exciting news to share with you all about the latest happenings in the world of tennis. Recently, at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, a thrilling matchup took place between Jasmine Paolini and Zheng Qinwen. This match was crucial for determining who would join Aryna Sabalenka as a semifinalist from the Orange Group.
Zheng Qinwen was on fire, firing 12 aces and 24 winners while saving both of Paolini’s break point chances. The Chinese player dismantled Paolini 6-1, 6-1 in just an hour and seven minutes of play. On the other side, Paolini sprayed 22 unforced errors and held a 1-0 lead in both sets before losing six consecutive games each time.
Paolini admitted she was “so nervous” throughout the entire match and acknowledged that Zheng’s exceptional serving made it harder for her to play. Despite this, Paolini finished her WTA Finals debut with a win over Elena Rybakina and losses to Zheng and Aryna Sabalenka.
Zheng, thrilled with how her game clicked against Paolini, reflected on her serve, stating, “I finally feel that my serve begins to be a bit more consistent. I remember in 2022 my serve also was quite strong. I don’t know why suddenly in 2023 my serve started to drop. In this tournament and the rest of this half year is the first time I’ve felt like the serve start to be back.”
Paolini’s loss means she will not move forward to the semifinals, while Zheng will now see results from the Orange Group to determine her next opponent in the semifinals.
If you want, you can check out the news where I found it here.
Yours truly,
Mia
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