Ekaterina Alexandrova, seeded No. 9, powered her way into her third semifinal of 2025 by defeating No. 3 seed Zheng Qinwen in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, at the Credit One Charleston Open on Friday.
Alexandrova`s previous Charleston semifinal appearance was in 2022, where she was defeated by Belinda Bencic. However, in that run as the No. 7 seed, she did not face any seeded players until the semifinal. This year, after a dominant victory over No. 6 seed Diana Shnaider in the Round of 16, she secured a win in 1 hour and 24 minutes against another higher-ranked opponent. This marks her third consecutive victory against a Top 10 player this year.
`Even though some moments in the score might have looked straightforward, I felt that every game was closely contested and intense,` Alexandrova mentioned in her post-match interview. `I am aware of her strong serve and overall game, so I aimed to capitalize on every opportunity presented.`
`I am satisfied with my performance today and thrilled to be back in the semifinals here.`
Continue reading for more statistics and insights from Alexandrova’s victory, her third win in as many matches against Zheng.
3: Alexandrova successfully defended all three break points against Zheng and converted 3 out of 5 break point opportunities she created.
4: Leading up to Charleston, Alexandrova had experienced a four-match losing streak since her semifinal loss to Amanda Anisimova at the Qatar Total Open. Before this streak, she had an eight-match winning streak, which included a title win at the WTA 500 Upper Austria Ladies Linz, along with victories over Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula in Doha.
She is set to compete against Pegula for the fourth time in their careers, having won their last two encounters. These wins include a three-set victory in the Qatar quarterfinals and another three-set win in the Miami quarterfinals last year. Pegula’s sole victory over Alexandrova was on clay in Rome four years prior.
`Playing against her will be extremely challenging because of her consistency and stability from the baseline, making it hard to dictate play,` Alexandrova commented about her upcoming match with Pegula.
5: Alexandrova began her match against Zheng by winning the first five games. This dominant start included a challenging opening service game where she had to save a break point after being up 40-15. In the third game, she was again pushed to deuce from a 40-15 lead.
8: Zheng called a medical timeout in the first set to receive treatment on her right arm. She managed to hit only eight winners throughout the match, with two being aces.
13: Before her defeat by Alexandrova, Zheng had accumulated a 13-match winning streak on clay, boosted by her Olympic gold medal last summer and a consecutive WTA 250 title in Palermo.
40: The Olympic gold medalist’s first serve percentage was just 40% in the match, enabling Alexandrova to win 46% of her return points.
Jasper Hawthorne 
Dominic Ashworth