Sabalenka Dominates Zheng and Advances to Roland-Garros Semifinals

Sabalenka faced Zheng in the opening match on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

After a very strong start from the Chinese player, Sabalenka gradually fought her way back into the match, erasing her break deficit and forcing a tiebreak. The Belarusian displayed perfect composure to clinch the first set (7-3).

In the second set, the world No. 1 took control against the world No. 7, breaking her serve twice to secure her quarterfinal victory (7-6, 6-3). Despite Zheng’s aggressive intent (22 winners), she took risks and missed many crucial points, committing 31 unforced errors throughout the match.

Before this encounter, Sabalenka led their head-to-head 6-1 but had recently lost to Zheng at the Rome tournament, where the 22-year-old triumphed 6-4, 6-3. Additionally, Zheng had entered Paris with a 10-3 record on clay this season, fresh off her 2024 Olympic title won on the same Philippe-Chatrier court. Despite this defeat, she surpassed her performance from last year, when she fell in the third round.

Sabalenka, meanwhile, boasted a 15-2 record on clay this season and had claimed her third Madrid title. The 27-year-old has also reached the semifinals in 11 of her last 14 Grand Slam appearances. For a spot in the final, she will face the winner of the match between defending champion Swiatek and Ukraine’s Svitolina.