Mertens stuns Swiatek in Beijing, sets up semi with home hope Zheng

Elise Mertens is having the week of her career in Beijing. Days after beating Coco Gauff for the first time in six meetings, the Belgian knocked out Iga Swiatek 7-6(0), 6-3 on Friday to reach the semifinals of the China Open, where she will face home favourite Qinwen Zheng.

It was Mertens' first win over Swiatek in three meetings and her third consecutive victory over a top-10 player this week, after wins over Jelena Ostapenko and Gauff. The world No. 19 is into her third WTA 1000 semifinal and her first since 2021.

Twelve points in a row

For most of the first set, Swiatek looked the likelier winner. The Pole led 6-5 and the score was 15-all on Mertens' serve when the match turned completely. According to Tennis Now, Mertens then won 12 consecutive points, holding to force a tiebreak and sweeping it 7-0 without giving Swiatek a single point.

The 30-year-old carried that momentum straight into the second set. She broke Swiatek and was ruthless on serve down the stretch, winning 12 of her final 14 service points to close out the match.

"I tried to keep that momentum going," Mertens said afterwards. "Let's try to put the pressure on. I was very happy that I could serve it out."

Zheng delights the home crowd

Earlier in the day, Zheng gave the Beijing crowd what it wanted by beating sixth seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-6(6) in 1 hour and 47 minutes. The Olympic champion, playing as a wildcard, broke Svitolina three times in the opening set and struck 36 winners to the Ukrainian's 21.

The second set was far tighter. Zheng made a sluggish start to the tiebreak but recovered by winning four points in a row to seal her place in the last four.

"I'm just happy to have a lot of winners during the match, and at the end, be brave in important moments," Zheng said.

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It is Zheng's fourth career WTA 1000 semifinal and her third on Chinese soil, after reaching the same stage in Beijing and Wuhan in 2024. She is also only the fifth Chinese woman to reach the semifinals of the China Open.

A rematch from Charleston

Mertens and Zheng have met only once before, on the green clay of Charleston in April 2025, when Zheng won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. A semifinal on hard courts in front of a partisan Beijing crowd will be a very different test, but Mertens has already shown this week that she can handle the biggest occasions.

The other semifinal pits Nikola Bartůňková, who demolished Karolina Muchová in 67 minutes in the quarterfinals, against Mirra Andreeva, who needed two tiebreaks to get past Ekaterina Alexandrova. Whoever lifts the trophy, the Beijing title will go to a player who has never won it before.