Zheng, who defeated Sabalenka in straight sets just last month on the clay courts of the Italian Open, came out strong in their rematch. She broke Sabalenka early for a 2-1 lead and maintained pressure with a series of powerful winners. Despite her opponent’s dominance in the winner count, Sabalenka managed to hold serve for 4-3 after Zheng committed two errors at the net.
Trailing, Sabalenka capitalized on back-to-back double faults from Zheng to earn a break point and leveled the score at 4-4 with a clean winner. The set remained tight, reaching 5-5 after 47 minutes.
At 6-5, Sabalenka had a set point on Zheng’s serve, but the Chinese saved it with a clutch down-the-line winner.