外刊英语阅读：China’s Zheng Qinwen reaches landmark grand slam semifinal

China’s Zheng Qinwen reaches landmark grand slam semifinal at the Australian Open

By George Ramsay, CNN

Published 8:07 AM EST, Wed January 24, 2024

Zheng Qinwen of China celebrates match point against Anna Kalinskaya at the Australian Open.

CNN —

Zheng Qinwen became just the fourth Chinese woman to reach the semifinal of a grand slam after coming from behind to defeat Anna Kalinskaya at the Australian Open.

The 6-7(4-7) 6-3 6-1 victory will also move Zheng inside the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time in her career and sets up a meeting with Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska on Thursday.

“The match was really tough for me and I just told myself: stay focused, don’t think any more about the first set,” she said in her on-court interview.

“I’m so happy right now, really excited. It’s the first time for me – I’m really happy to be in the semifinals, especially with such a good performance like this.”

It wasn’t until midway through the second set that Zheng managed to assert her command on the match, breaking Kalinskaya at 4-3 and wrapping up the set with an ace in the following game.

Kalinskaya (left) and Zheng shake hands after their quarterfinal.

With the momentum now firmly in her favor, Zheng moved in front by rattling off 12 points in a row in the deciding set. She broke Kalinskaya three times over the course of the set and completed the victory when the 25-year-old drilled a forehand into the net.

Against Yastremska, the 21-year-old will join Zheng Jie, Li Na and Peng Shuai in the list of Chinese women to reach a grand slam semifinal. Of those, only Li has ever won a major: the French Open in 2011 and the Australian Open in 2014.

According to Opta, Zheng is also the fourth Asian player in the Open Era to reach the final four of a grand slam before turning 22.

Prior to this year’s Australian Open, she had made one previous appearance in the quarterfinals of a grand slam at last year’s US Open.

“The feeling is just – I can’t explain by words right now because there were so many inside,” Zheng later told reporters. “I mean, happiness. Of course, I’m proud of myself. This is just the beginning.”

China’s Zheng Qinwen reaches landmark grand slam semifinal at the Australian Open

中国选手郑钦文在澳网闯入具有里程碑意义的大满贯半决赛

Zheng Qinwen became just the fourth Chinese woman to reach the semifinal of a grand slam after coming from behind to defeat Anna Kalinskaya at the Australian Open.

郑钦文在澳网后来居上击败Anna Kalinskaya，成为第四位进入大满贯半决赛的中国女性。

The 6-7(4-7) 6-3 6-1 victory will also move Zheng inside the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time in her career and sets up a meeting with Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska on Thursday.

这场比分6-7（4-7）、6-3、6-1的胜利也将使郑职业生涯首次跻身世界排名前十，并将于周四与乌克兰预选赛选手Dayana Yastremska会面。

“The match was really tough for me and I just told myself: stay focused, don’t think any more about the first set,” she said in her on-court interview.

“这场比赛对我来说真的很艰难，我只是告诉自己：保持专注，不要再去想第一盘”，她在球场上接受采访时说。

“I’m so happy right now, really excited. It’s the first time for me – I’m really happy to be in the semifinals, especially with such a good performance like this.”

“我现在非常开心，真的很激动，这对我来说是第一次，我真的很开心能够进入半决赛，特别是以这样一个好的表现”。

It wasn’t until midway through the second set that Zheng managed to assert her command on the match, breaking Kalinskaya at 4-3 and wrapping up the set with an ace in the following game.

直到第二盘比赛进行到中途，郑才开始在比赛中占据主动，以4-3破发了Kalinskaya，随后在接下来的比赛中以一记ace球结束了这一盘比赛。

With the momentum now firmly in her favor, Zheng moved in front by rattling off 12 points in a row in the deciding set. She broke Kalinskaya three times over the course of the set and completed the victory when the 25-year-old drilled a forehand into the net.

现在势头明显向郑这边倾斜，她在决胜盘连续拿下12分，取得领先。她在这盘的过程中三次破发Kalinskaya，并在这位25岁选手一记正手击球得分后，成功赢得了比赛。

Against Yastremska, the 21-year-old will join Zheng Jie, Li Na and Peng Shuai in the list of Chinese women to reach a grand slam semifinal. Of those, only Li has ever won a major: the French Open in 2011 and the Australian Open in 2014.

对阵Yastremska，这位21岁的选手将继郑洁、李娜和彭帅之后第四位进入大满贯半决赛的中国女子。其中，只有李赢得过冠军：2011年的法网和2014年的澳网。

According to Opta, Zheng is also the fourth Asian player in the Open Era to reach the final four of a grand slam before turning 22.

据Opta报道，郑也是公开赛第四位在22岁之前进入大满贯四强的亚洲选手。

Prior to this year’s Australian Open, she had made one previous appearance in the quarterfinals of a grand slam at last year’s US Open.

在今年的澳大利亚网球公开赛之前，她曾在去年的美国网球公开赛大满贯四分之一决赛中亮相。

“The feeling is just – I can’t explain by words right now because there were so many inside,” Zheng later told reporters. “I mean, happiness. Of course, I’m proud of myself. This is just the beginning.”

“我现在无法用语言来描述，因为我想说的太多了”，郑后来对记者说，“我的意思是，开心。当然，我为自己感到骄傲，这只是一个开始。”