Beijing News Sports | Reporter Li Yuanfei
In the early morning of June 18th, Beijing time, in the second round of the women's doubles match at the WTA250 Birmingham Station, Chinese women's tennis player Zhang Shuai, , partnered with , who is currently ranked number one in the doubles world. Belgian player Mertens defeated the Romanian combination Ruse/Niculescu 6-2, 7-6(2) and successfully entered the semi-finals. Earlier, Zhang Shuai also defeated the Ukrainian player Yastremska, who is currently ranked 79th in the world in singles, in the women's singles quarter-finals, reaching the semi-finals and tying her record in 2014. The best personal singles record in this event.
Zhang Shuai Data Picture
Zhang Shuai has played against Yastremska three times before. Except for losing in Hong Kong in 2018, he won the next two times. Especially in this year's Lyon women's singles final, Zhang Shuai reversed the situation with 6-3 and 6-4 in the unfavorable situation of losing a set 3-6, and won the third tour women's singles championship in his career. . They met again in this campaign. Zhang Shuai took the lead in breaking serve in the fifth game of the first set. Yastremska broke back in the eighth game. However, Zhang Shuai broke again in the crucial 11th game and won the first set 7-5. . In the second set, Zhang Shuai successfully broke serve in the first game, and Yastremska retaliated in the eighth game. However, Zhang Shuai broke serve again in the ninth game to take the lead, and finally won the match 6-4.
"I performed relatively well today and I am very happy to have entered the semi-finals." Zhang Shuai said, "Yastremska's ball is very fast. I can withstand such a fast ball and find opportunities to win in difficult situations. I'm very happy for myself."
Next, Zhang Shuai will face the 32-year-old Romanian veteran Kolstia, the No. 6 seed in the semi-finals. Zhang Shuai is at a disadvantage with 1 win and 2 losses in his head-to-head record, but in this year's Miami station, Zhang Shuai defeated his opponent twice 6-1. In this regard, Zhang Shuai said: "We have just played together in Miami. She is also a sharp offensive player and has always performed well on grass. I will try my best in the semi-finals." According to the schedule, Zhang Shuai will play in Beijing At 18:00 on June 18th, she will compete with Kolstia in the women’s singles semifinals. A few hours later, Zhang Shuai and Mertens will also face the combination of Australian star Stosur and Chinese Taipei player Zhan Yongran in the women's doubles semifinals.
