Guangzhou's final four features an all-Chinese lineup! Zhang Shuai advances surprisingly

The 2025 WTA250 Guangzhou tournament is approaching the women's singles semifinal stage. In the final four, it's exciting to find that despite representing three different nations, the players’ names show a common thread. These players are Sun Lulu, Liu Jingwen, Zhang Shuai, and Li Jinyu, a group fans have nicknamed the "all-Chinese squad."

As the only seeded player among the women's singles semifinalists, Li Jinyu currently holds one WTA Tour singles title (the 2023 Nottingham tournament). She reached the fourth round of the US Open this year, marking her best Grand Slam singles performance to date.

Li Jinyu, also known as Ann Li, was born in the United States, but her parents are Chinese immigrants (her mother is from Suzhou and her father from Changchun). In the upcoming semifinal, she will face China's Zhang Shuai. If she wins, she will reach her third tour final this season.

Li Jinyu and Zhang Shuai previously met once at the 2021 Australian Open, where Li won in straight sets.

For Zhang Shuai, competing in this year's Guangzhou tournament with a wildcard and winning three consecutive singles matches is already a remarkable achievement. Especially in the recently concluded quarterfinal against American player Varvara Gracheva, she won a tough first set tiebreak, lost the second set 5-7, and finally clinched the deciding set 7-5. The match lasted a grueling 2 hours and 53 minutes.

The scoreline between the two was full of twists, and the match was filled with dramatic moments. After the match, Zhang Shuai gave an emotional statement: "I feel like I won a match that was almost impossible to win. The genuine, passionate, and heartfelt support from every one of you kept me going to finish this tough match."

"This really was a match I wasn’t supposed to win, so I am extremely grateful to every fan who came out to support me."

In the upper half of the draw, the women's singles semifinal features two qualifiers: Sun Lulu from New Zealand against American Liu Jingwen. Sun Lulu’s mother is from Jiangxi, and she attended kindergarten in Shanghai before moving to Switzerland at age five.

Liu Jingwen, like Li Jinyu, was born in the U.S. to Chinese immigrant parents. As a post-2000 generation player, Liu won the Wimbledon junior girls’ singles title in 2017, ending a 25-year drought for American players. However, since turning professional, her performance has been fairly moderate.

So, which two players do you think will meet in the final?(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)