Johanna Konta roars back to beat Zhang Shuai in China Open
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Konta’s win improves her chances of making the WTA finale in
Singapore
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British number one Johanna Konta recovered from losing her first two
service games to sweep to a 6-4 6-0 win over China's world number 36
Zhang Shuai in the China Open quarter-finals. The 25-year-old was 4-0
down in the opening set, but won the final 12 games to deflate Zhang in
front of her home fans.
Konta also recorded a straight-set win over Zhang at the Wuhan Open
last week.
She will play American eighth seed Madison Keys in the semi-finals.
The victory also increases the chances of Konta qualifying for the
season-ending WTA finals in Singapore. The tournament, which begins on
23 October, will feature the year's top eight players. Three spots are
still up for grabs and world number 14 Konta's progress to the
semi-finals will take her up to 10th at least before her participation
in next week's Hong Kong Open.
Zhang, who beat world number five Simona Halep in the previous round
to make the China Open last eight for the first time, started well but
folded in dramatic style as Konta found her range. The Chinese player
won just 11 points in the final set.
On the other side of the draw, Ukrainian 16th seed Elina Svitolina
will play either Agnieszka Radwanska or Yaroslava Shvedova in the other
semi-final. -BBC |
