Zheng Qinwen underlined her status as the future of Chinese women's tennis with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 win over sixth-ranked Maria Sakkari at the Zhengzhou Open on Wednesday.
It was the 21-year-old Zheng's fifth top-10 victory of her young career and set up a quarter-final with Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina.
Zheng sealed victory with her 13th ace of the match, to the delight of the home fans.
A quarterfinalist at the US Open last month, Zheng is searching for a second WTA title, having triumphed in Palermo in July.
Ranked 24 in the world, Zheng was dealt a blow a few weeks ago when her coach Wim Fissette ended their partnership to go back to working with former world number one Naomi Osaka, who is set to return from maternity leave next season.
But the 2022 WTA Newcomer of the Year rebounded in style, clinching gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou and now taking down third seed Sakkari for the first time in three meetings.
"The game plan today was to fight for every single point and try to play aggressive when I can because the last two times I played her I was not aggressive enough and I stayed too long in the same spot," said Zheng.
"I think tonight the fans here helped me a lot," she added.
The seeds exodus started earlier in the day when Jasmine Paolini knocked out reigning WTA Finals champion and sixth seed Caroline Garcia 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in two hours and 17 minutes.
The Italian world No.31 saved four match points on her own serve at 4-5 in the deciding set before claiming a crucial break in the 11th game to punch her ticket to the quarterfinals for a sixth time in 2023.
The 27-year-old now awaits Laura Siegemund or Liudmila Samsonova in the last eight.
"I lost to Caroline four times and it was really tough," she said.
