Ekaterina Alexandrova, seeded No. 9, powered her way into the Charleston Open semifinals for the second time in her career, achieving a decisive 6-1, 6-4 victory over No. 3 seed Zheng Qinwen on Friday. This marks her third semifinal appearance in 2025.
Alexandrova`s previous Charleston semifinal was in 2022, where she was defeated by Belinda Bencic as the No. 7 seed, without overcoming any seeded players in that journey. This year, after a dominant Round of 16 win against No. 6 seed Diana Shnaider, she secured a victory in 1 hour and 24 minutes against another higher-ranked opponent. This win is her third consecutive against a Top 10 player this season.
“Even though the score might suggest an easy match, I felt every game was closely contested and intense,” Alexandrova commented after the match. “I know Zheng is a fantastic server and player, so I focused on seizing every opportunity I could.”
“I am very pleased with my performance today and thrilled to be back in the semifinals here,” she added.
Here are some key statistics from Alexandrova’s win, her third straight victory in as many matches against Zheng:
3: Alexandrova successfully defended all three break points she faced from Zheng and capitalized on 3 out of 5 break point opportunities she created.
4: Prior to Charleston, Alexandrova had experienced four consecutive losses since her semifinal defeat to Amanda Anisimova at the Qatar Total Open. Before this downturn, she had an eight-match winning streak, including a title win at the WTA 500 Upper Austria Ladies Linz and Top 10 victories against Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula in Doha.
5: Alexandrova began the match against Zheng by winning the first five games. This strong start included a challenging service hold in the opening game, where she had to save a break point after being up 40-15. The third game also saw her pushed to deuce after leading 40-15.
8: Zheng called a medical timeout in the first set for treatment on her right arm. She managed to hit only eight winners throughout the match, with two of them being aces.
13: Before her loss to Alexandrova, Zheng had won 13 consecutive matches on clay, dating back to her Olympic gold medal win last summer and a subsequent WTA 250 title in Palermo.
40%: The Olympic gold medalist`s first serve percentage was just 40% in the match, allowing Alexandrova to win 46% of her return points.
Looking ahead, Alexandrova is set to face Pegula for the fourth time in their careers. Alexandrova has won their last two encounters, including a three-set victory in the Qatar quarterfinals and another three-set win in the Miami quarterfinals last year. Pegula’s sole victory against Alexandrova was on clay in Rome four years ago.
“Playing against Pegula will be extremely challenging because of her consistency and stability from the baseline. It’s tough to find weaknesses in her game,” Alexandrova acknowledged.
