Elise Mertens reaches doubles semifinals in Beijing — Interia Sport
Belgian tennis player Elise Mertens, together with Diana Shnaider, advanced to the doubles semifinals of the WTA 1000 China Open tournament in Beijing, China. In the quarterfinals, the sixth-seeded duo defeated Ellen Perez and Demi Schuurs 2-0 in sets. This was reported by Interia Sport.
Victory in 64 minutes
The match lasted 64 minutes. Perez and Schuurs levelled the score in the first set after breaking Shnaider's serve, but from 2:2, Mertens and Shnaider won seven games in a row. The streak allowed them to finish the first set 6:2 and take a 3:0 lead in the second.
Schuurs and Perez ended the streak but were unable to change the course of the match. Mertens played at the net, while Shnaider operated from the baseline. In the semifinals, the Belgian-Russian pair will face the winners of the match between Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini and Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani.
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Match against Iga Swiatek
The following day, Mertens is set to play Iga Swiatek in the China Open singles quarterfinal. The Polish tennis player had previously defeated the Belgian twice in their head-to-head meetings. Before the match against Swiatek, Mertens also beat Coco Gauff in Beijing in two sets, although she had a 0:5 record in matches against the American before that.
The singles and doubles semifinals in Beijing are scheduled for Saturday. If she beats Swiatek, Mertens will spend the weekend playing matches in both disciplines.
