World No 1 Iga Swiatek stormed into semi-finals of the Dubai Championships while Sorana Cirstea saved six match points before upsetting Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in an epic comeback win.
Swiatek, bidding for her eighth career WTA 1000 title this week in Dubai, defeated Zheng 6-3 6-2 for her seventh consecutive win in the Middle East following her third straight victory at the Qatar Open on Saturday.
The Pole claimed a 25th victory in 26 matches against Australian Open runner-up Zheng and she will now play the winner of the match between third seed Coco Gauff and Anna Kalinskaya.
Elena Rybakina withdrew from the tournament due to gastrointestinal illness which allowed the unseeded Jasmine Paolini to advance to the semi-finals.
Paolini will face another unseeded player in Cirstea, who pulled off a remarkable comeback from a set and 5-1 down to defeat Vondrousova 2-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-2.
The Romanian saved six match points en route to notching her 21st career Top 10 win.
“This has to be the biggest comeback of my career,” Cirstea said in her on-court interview.
“To be honest, at a set and 5-1, I wasn’t thinking about winning any more. I was like, at least make it nice for the public, at least make it longer and give them a bit nicer tennis. I still don’t know how I managed it.”
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Sorana Cirstea saved six match points as she battled back from 6-2 5-1 down to defeat Marketa Vondrousova
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