Zheng Qinwen to face Coco Gauff, New Zealand end Ireland’s long unbeaten home record
There’s tennis, rugby, some cricket news and, as always, football happening somewhere in the world
Feel torn on Friday nights between going out and keeping up with the sporting action?
Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered …
Here’s a run down of the main sporting headlines from while you were sleeping.
Zheng v Gauff in Riyadh
Chinese tennis star Zheng Qinwen got a double boost on Friday.
Not only did she reach the WTA Finals decider with her 6-3, 7-5 victory over Barbora Krejcikova, but arch-nemesis Aryna Sabalenka was beaten in the other semi-final.
Awaiting her in the Riyadh showpiece will be Coco Gauff of the United States, who eliminated the world No 1 with a 7-6, 6-3 win.
Zheng overcame a wobble in the second set when 3-0 suddenly became 3-4, but she reasserted control to claim the victory.
“It feels so special because this is my first WTA Finals and right now I’m in the final, which is unbelievable,” Zheng said of her victory over Krejcikova. “She’s a really good player, today we gave a good match.
“It was tricky because at 3-0 I think I dropped my performance, suddenly my performance went down and she played more free and I was suddenly 3-4 down. I gave so much control to myself to not panic too much. It shows I was mentally strong in that moment.”
