RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Zheng Qinwen had already had a break on Jasmine Paolini, serving at 2-1, but hit back-to-back aces to close out the match. Just after another break at 4-1, she hit two more serves that were not returned, followed by another pair of aces.

For those of you not counting at home, that was six swings at the ball, none of them returned. It was a revealing snapshot of the exalted position the 22-year-old Chinese player’s game finds itself in these days.

The final score at the WTA Finals Riyadh, presented by PIF, was 6-1, 6-1, and it was over in 67 minutes.

“She started serving better and better and it’s hard to read her serve,” Paolini said later. “I don’t think it’s easy.

WTA Final Riyadh: Results | Schedule | Standings

“Now it’s hard to forget this match because I was so nervous. Couldn’t find a solution to play against her. It was a tough day. But there are also some positive matches. But today it is a very negative one.”

And so, seventh-seeded Zheng advances to Friday’s semifinals after winning this winner-take-all match. She has now defeated Paolini all four times they have played and will next face an opponent to be named later.

“I finally feel like my serve is starting to become a bit more consistent,” Zheng told reporters. “I remember my serve was pretty strong in 2022 as well. I don’t know why my service suddenly started dropping in 2023. In this tournament and the rest of this six months, it is the first time that I have the feeling that the serve is coming back.”

This was a virtuoso display from Zheng. She hit 12 aces and scored five service breaks. Her footwork was impeccable and she even threw an elegant sprinting drop shot into the air that left the large crowd gasping.

Zheng is the youngest player to reach the semifinals of the WTA Finals, her first appearance since Petra Kvitova in 2011. It is her seventh semifinal of the year and the first time she has ever had two Top 10 players in the same tournament defeated.

Since the conclusion of Wimbledon this year, Zheng has won 30 matches – four more than the next player, world No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka – and lost just five. In that period she has won the Olympic gold medal in singles, titles in Palermo and Tokyo, as well as a quarter-final appearance at the US Open, a semi-final in Beijing and a final in Wuhan.

Zheng could become the second player to win the singles gold medal and reach the WTA Finals championship match in the same season since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988, after Serena Williams in 2012.

Historically, the year-end tournament can be unpredictable, but here in Riyadh the top three players entering – Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Zheng – were the first three to win two group matches.

For Paolini it is the end of a great season in singles. She finishes 38-19 and can look back with fondness on the grand finals at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She still lives in doubles with partner Sara Errani.

Zheng’s opponent will be determined on Thursday when the Oranjegroep plays its last matches. If the higher seeds prevail in those two group matches on Thursday, Zheng would face No. 3 Gauff in the semifinals. When asked if she would watch the matches, Zheng said she would delegate that task to her coach, Pere Riba.

“I finally showed what kind of tennis I really want to play,” Zheng said. “Of course you are nervous when you take part in the competition, but at the same time you feel confident because you know your level. And I know how capable I am.”