Aryna Sabalenka is baring her teeth as the best player in the world. Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek could be fighting for a distant second unless they find an answer.

It took Zheng a little longer to get going. She lost her opener to Aryna Sabalenka, and nearly lost the first two sets to Elena Rybakina. But something clicked in the third. She won it 6-1, then handed out two more breadsticks to Jasmine Paolini in her final match.

China's Zheng Qinwen reached the semi-finals of the WTA Finals in Riyadh after claiming an impressive 6-1 6-1 win over Italian fourth seed Jasmine Paolini on Wednesday. In her WTA Finals debut, the 22-year-old became the youngest player to reach the semi-finals since Petra Kvitova in 2011.

She’s the 16th player in WTA rankings history to finish a year at No. 1, and the second born in 1998 or later after Swiatek.