By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday February 28, 2020
Mexico's Renata Zarazua reached her first career semifinal at Acapulco with a victory over Tamara Zidansek on Thursday night.
Photo Source: Guillermo Sanchez
World No.270 Renata Zarazua is making history by the match in Acapulco. After knocking off top-seeded Sloane Stephens in her opening match, the 22-year-old wild card from Mexico City has powered into the semifinals, becoming the first woman from her country to reach the last four at a WTA event since 1993.
Much to the delight of a screaming legion of fans, Zarazua defeated Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek 6-2 3-6 6-2 on Thursday to book a semifinal with another first-time WTA semifinalist, 17-year-old Leylah Fernandez of Canada.
"After I beat Sloane, I think it gave me confidence to just keep going," said Zarazua, according to WTA Tennis.com. "Yesterday I was really tired, so today my goal was to keep my energy safe. At the end, I ended up not even feeling tired. I think that the crowd got me pumped, and I was just going with the flow."
After splitting sets with Zidansek, Zarazua took charge of the decider and broke twice without surrendering a break. She broke at love to close the victory out and was promptly serenaded by her fans.
Fernandez toppled Russia’s Anastasia Potapova 6-3 7-5 to reach her maiden WTA semifinals. The 17-year-old World No.190 was a Roland Garros Girls Singles champion in 2019. The Quebec native defeated Belinda Bencic for her biggest career win at Fed Cup earlier this month.
The other semifinal will feature Great Britian’s Heather Watson against 18-year-old Wang Xiyu. Wang, 18, was the 2018 US Open Girls Singles champion. She defeated Zhu Lin of China 6-2 6-2.
Watson knocked off Christina McHale 6-3 1-6 6-1.