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Qinwen Zheng used her dominating serve to defeat Jasmine Paolini of Italy 6-1, 6-1 and clinch a spot in the semifinals of the WTA Finals Riyadh on Wednesday.

Zheng, of China, the seventh seed, needed just 67 minutes to squash Paolini, the fourth seed, in Saudi Arabia.

For Zheng and Paolini, it was a winner-take-all contest in the Purple group of the event, with the winner moving on to the semifinal. As the No. 2 finisher in the group, Zheng will face the winner of the Orange section in the next round.

The 22-year-old Zheng hit 12 aces and converted five of eight break chances. The semifinal will be her seventh of 2024. She won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

“I finally feel that my serve begin to be a bit more consistent,” Zheng told reporters. “I remember in 2022 my serve also was quite strong. I don’t know why suddenly in 2023 my serve started to drop. In this tournament and the rest of this half year is the first time I’ve felt like the serve start to be back.”

Paolini said she struggled against Zheng, who has defeated her in all four of their meetings.

“She started to serve better and better and it’s tough to read her serve,” Paolini said. “I think it’s not easy.”

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who already qualified as the top seed in the Purple group, lost her first match in Riyadh on Wednesday. She was topped by fifth-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

But it largely was a practice match for both. Rybakina, who came into the match at 0-2 in the Purple group, already had been eliminated from the final four. But it wound up as a great confidence builder for Rybakina.

Injuries and illnesses limited Rybakina to just three matches since Wimbledon and first since the U.S. Open. Sabalenka had won six of nine contests played between the two.

Thursday’s matches in the Orange group will determine the opponents for Sabalenka and Zheng in the next round.

Third seed Coco Gauff, who is 2-0 in group play, will face Czech Barbora Krejcikova, seeded eighth. Krejcikova is 1-1, and she’d win the group with a win and Gauff would fall to second.

But a Krejcikova loss and a win by second-seeded Iga Swiatek would move Swiatek to second place in the group and into the final four. Swiatek was scheduled to play Jessica Pegula, who at 0-2 already was out of the mix to move on, but will play alternate Daria Kasatkina of Russia instead.

Pegula dropped out Wednesday, citing an injury to her left knee.

Kasatkina is a one-match stand-in only. She cannot advance. A Swiatek win and a Krejcikova loss would send Swiatek to her third consecutive WTA Finals semifinal and a clash with Sabalenka, who overtook Swiatek as the world’s top-ranked player last month.

–Field Level Media