Sabalenka battles past Zheng into Roland Garros semifinals

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Lacoste Roland Garros 2025 collection

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka fought past eighth seed Zheng Qinwen 7-6(3) 6-3 to become the first women’s singles semifinalist at Roland Garros 2025.

Aryna Sabalenka

Zheng, who defeated Sabalenka in straight sets just last month on the clay courts of the Italian Open, came out strong in their rematch. She broke Sabalenka early for a 2-1 lead and maintained pressure with a series of powerful winners. Despite her opponent’s dominance in the winner count, Sabalenka managed to hold serve for 4-3 after Zheng committed two errors at the net.

Trailing, Sabalenka capitalized on back-to-back double faults from Zheng to earn a break point and leveled the score at 4-4 with a clean winner. The set remained tight, reaching 5-5 after 47 minutes.

At 6-5, Sabalenka had a set point on Zheng’s serve, but the Chinese saved it with a clutch down-the-line winner. Zheng then fired an ace to force a tiebreak, in which Sabalenka came out on top after an initial 2-0 deficit.

Sabalenka was the first to strike in the second set, breaking Zheng for a 3-2 lead. Although the Chinese star responded immediately to level at 3-3, Sabalenka raised her level once again, reeling off the next three games to close out the match. With the victory, she equals her best performance at Roland Garros, having also reached the semifinals in 2023.

Sabalenka will face the winner of Tuesday’s other quarterfinal between defending champion Iga Swiatek and Elina Svitolina for a place in the final.

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Marija Zivlak
Marija Zivlak is the founder and editor-in-chief of Women’s Tennis Blog, a trusted source for in-depth coverage of the WTA Tour, tennis fashion, and player insights. Based in Belgrade, Serbia, she has been reporting on women’s tennis for over 18 years and has contributed exclusive fashion articles to the official WTA website. Marija launched Women’s Tennis Blog on March 31, 2007 to provide fans with accurate, engaging, and up-to-date tennis news. Her expertise and deep connections within the sport allow her to offer unique perspectives on tennis trends, gear, and events.

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