Florida, March 26 -- Top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus secured her spot in the Miami Open semifinals for the first time in career, defeating China's ninth-seeded Zheng Qinwen in straight sets
in the quarterfinals.
Sabalenka cruised through the opening set on Tuesday, breaking Zheng twice to take it 6-2.
However, the second set turned into a tense battle, with both players struggling on serve. The duo exchanged six consecutive breaks before Sabalenka managed to hold in a marathon eighth game, fending off three break points.
Zheng responded with a hold of her own to edge ahead 5-4, but Sabalenka found her rhythm again, winning three straight games to seal the set 7-5.
The victory extended Sabalenka's dominant head-to-head record ag...