ZHENG PROUD OF MATCHING LI'S FEAT

Chinese star follows idol's footsteps into last four of WTA Finals after thrashing Paolini

Zheng Qinwen is the reigning Olympic champion, and she is also making a huge impact in her first appearance at the WTA Finals.

On Nov 6, the Chinese star beat Italy's Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of the tournament, while also claiming her 30th win from 35 matches contested since Wimbledon.

Her victory put her in second place in the Purple Group behind world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to Elena Rybakina but had already qualified for the last four as group winner.

Zheng, who needed only 67 minutes to clinch her victory, has now defeated Paolini, 28, in all four of their encounters.

"It's one of the best performances I had during this year," she said on court afterwards. "Really good percentage of first serves. I enjoyed a lot tonight to play here."

She finished with 24 winners to just 14 unforced errors and won 77 per cent of her first-serve points. In one impressive sequence, she blasted six successive first serves that were not returned, four of them aces.