Mertens protects her serve throughout the quarterfinal
Elise Mertens beat Iga Swiatek 7–6(0), 6–3 in Beijing on October 9 to reach the China Open singles semifinals for the first time. The Belgian completed the quarterfinal in one hour and 50 minutes.
Mertens did not face a break point. The WTA recorded 24 winners, 11 unforced errors and 33 first-serve points won from 38 for the No. 13 seed.
After a first set without a service break, Mertens won every point in the tiebreak. A break for 3–1 in the second set put her ahead again. Swiatek reached 0–30 in the final game, but Mertens answered with four successive points to finish.
The victory followed wins over Jelena Ostapenko and Coco Gauff, giving Mertens three consecutive successes against Grand Slam champions. It was her first tour-level victory over Swiatek and her first WTA 1000 singles semifinal since 2021.