After a valiant 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) victory against Veronika Kudermetova on Saturday at the Pan Pacific Open, rising Chinese prodigy Zheng Qinwen advanced into her maiden WTA final.
The top seed Paula Badosa was defeated by the 19-year-old Zheng earlier this week in Tokyo, demonstrating her high potential. Zheng will play Liudmila Samsonova of Russia in the championship match.
Last year at this time, the unseeded Zheng was outside the top 150; nevertheless, she has since climbed to number 36 and has caused a stir with a series of outstanding performances.
After defeating fourth-seeded Russian Kudermetova in 3 hours and 2 minutes, she stated she felt “so amazing” and vowed to get off to a quick start against Samsonova in the championship match.
 victory against Veronika Kudermetova on Saturday at the Pan Pacific Open, rising Chinese prodigy Zheng Qinwen advanced into her maiden WTA final.){kind=link}