Iga Swiatek, Elina Svitolina knocked out of quarter-finals at China Open

World No 7 Svitolina was beaten 6-3, 7-6(6) by 54th-ranked Chinese star Zheng Qinwen in the third quarter-final in Beijing - and the first of two played on Friday.

Zheng made an early statement by breaking serve in the opening game and racing into a 2-0 lead. She secured two more breaks to take the first set 6-3.

The second set proved more competitive, with both players holding serve to force a tiebreak, where Zheng converted her second match point to seal the win after one hour and 47 minutes.

It was Svitolinaâ™s first-ever encounter with Zheng - who has reached a career-high ranking of world No 4 - following on from her impressive run at the US Open in which she knocked out Swiatek in the Round of 16.

In the last of the quarter-finals, World No 9 Swiatek lost 7-6(0), 6-3 to 19th-ranked Elise Mertens, who had upset Coco Gauff in the previous round.

There were no breaks in the first set, but Mertens concluded it in empathic fashion as she bageled Swiatek in the tiebreak.

In the second set, Mertens secured the only break of the match to take a 3-1 lead en route to closing out an impressive triumph.

Swiatek had won her two previous meetings with Mertens without losing a set.

Zheng and Mertens will face off in the semi-finals in Beijing, while Mirra Andreeva will meet Nikola Bartunkova in the other last four matchup.

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