World number 1 Aryna Sabalenka saw off a dogged challenge from eighth seed Zheng Qinwen but eventually prevailed 7-6(3), 6-3 to reach the French Open semifinal.
Victory for the top seed saw her extend her head-to-head lead over Qinwen to 7-1, having tasted defeat to the Chinese for the first time at the Italian Open last month.
It was a largely clean display from Sabalenka, who hit fewer winners than her opponent (20 to 22), but had just 18 unforced errors – compared to 31 for her opponent.
“That was a true battle,” said Sabalenka in her on-court interview after the victory. “I have no idea how I was able to get back into that first set.
“I was ready to leave everything I have on court to win.”
It is the second time that Sabalenka has reached the semi-final at the French Open, following her run to the last four in 2023.
The Belarusian has now reached an impressive 11 Grand Slam singles semi-finals, and has progressed to at least the semi-final of nine of the last ten majors she has played.
The only time Sabalenka has failed to reach a semi-final in that run was at Roland Garros in 2024, where she was affected by illness in her quarter-final exit to Mirra Andreeva.
She was also forced to withdraw from Wimbledon last summer due to a shoulder injury, though, outside of those two events, she has reached every other major semi-final since the 2022 US Open.
Her haul of 11 Grand Slam singles semi-finals is by far the most of any player this decade, with Iga Swiatek (seven) the only other WTA player to reach more than five semi-finals since the start of 2020.
