Rising star Zheng Qinwen reaches Pan Pacific Open final

Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen showed everyone why she is one of the fastest rising stars in tennis during an entertaining, back-and-forth semifinal contest at the Pan Pacific Open on Saturday.

The path to her first career title, however, goes through one of the hottest players on the WTA Tour.

The 19-year-old Zheng pulled out a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (6-3) win over No. 13 Veronika Kudermetova, the fourth seed, in a match that lasted 3 hours, 14 minutes to reach her first WTA final at Ariake Coliseum on Saturday.

"I feel so amazing to arrive in the final," the 36th-ranked Zheng said. "Today was a really, really difficult match. I won in the third set tiebreak. In the end, every point there was so important, and there were a lot of emotions during the match."

While Zheng is competing in her first final, her opponent, Liudmila Samsonova, is heading to her third since August.

Samsonova punched her ticket with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win over China's Zhang Shuai earlier in the day. The Russian has won 17 of her last 18 matches, including titles at the Citi Open in Washington and Tennis in the Land in Cleveland, and a run to the last 16 at the U.S. Open.

Zheng and Samsonova's only previous meeting came in the first round of the Palermo Ladies Open in 2021. An 18-year-old Zheng, making her WTA main draw debut, upset the second-seeded Russian in straight sets.

"One year can make a lot of difference," Zheng said. "So I need to see how she's playing in these few matches. But I'm sure that if she arrived in the final, I think she is (at) her best level right now and it will be a really tough match tomorrow."

Zheng, a young Chinese player who idolizes men's great Roger Federer is having a breakout year on the WTA Tour.

She reached the third round in three of the four Grand Slam events this year and has won 35 matches. She defeated No. 5 Ons Jabeur via retirement at the Canadian Open, and that was her biggest win until she arrived in Tokyo and defeated top-seeded Paula Badosa, the world No. 4, in the second round.

Zheng is one of three Chinese women to reach Pan Pacific Open semifinals, following Li Na in 2009 and Zhang this year, and will be trying to become the first to win.

Kudermetova needed a medical timeout while leading 6-5 in the third set but was able to continue.

The Russian, who also reached the semifinals in doubles, played three-hour, three-set singles matches on consecutive days.

Zheng raced to a 4-1 lead in the first set before Kudermetova held serve, converted a break and held again to pull even.

The Russian earned another break to go ahead 6-5 and served out the set.

"In the first set, I was leading 4-1 and for me, it was a little bit tough to lose the first set when I was leading with one break,” Zheng said. “At that moment I was a little bit pissed with myself."

Zheng was in control in the second, racing to another 4-1 lead and holding on to win the set.

Kudermetova led 6-5 in the third when she took a medical timeout.

Zheng sat and kept her focus on the task at hand while the Russian was being treated.

"I know what I have to do," Zheng said. "I cannot control what the opponent is doing. What I can do is just focus on me."

Zheng held serve in the final game to send the match to a tiebreak.

Kudermetova started the tiebreak with an ace and evened the score in the fourth game after Zheng won two points.

Zheng converted a break to go up 3-2 and then won the next three points. She failed to break Kudermetova on her first match point but held serve to punch her ticket to the final.

Samsonova is the hottest player on tour and will be bidding for her third title in four tournaments after getting past Zhang.

"I'm feeling so happy because I'm in another final in two months and it's amazing," Samsonova said. "I never think it's going to be possible, something like this."

Samsonova unleashed a flurry of powerful serves and hit winners from all over the court to keep Zhang, who upset No. 10 Caroline Garcia in the second round, on the defensive.

"I feel her serve, return, baseline, forehand, backhand, everything is good," Zhang said. "Normally, I feel I'm very strong, my baseline can win a lot of points, but against her, I feel she is even stronger than me and she moved well, defended better. She can make a winner anytime, any shot."

Samsonova finished with 13 aces, 40 winners and converted four of five break point opportunities.

She defeated Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the first round in Tokyo and reached the semifinals with a win over No. 12 Garbine Muguruza. Samsonova, who defeated Wang Xinyu in the second round, has yet to drop a set during her first appearance in the main draw in the Pan Pacific Open.

She outlasted Zhang in a tiebreak to win the first set before being broken to start the second.

Samsonova trailed 40-0 in the second game of the second set before battling back to take both the game and control of the match.

She won her next service game to go up 2-1 and only dropped one point the rest of the way.

"When it was 2-1 for me in the second set, I got energy in my feet, in my body,” she said. “I said 'OK, I can do this in two sets.'