Seventh heaven for Queen Wen

After six failed attempts, Zheng beats the odds to stun world No 1 Sabalenka

"Queen Wen" has finally got over the hump, and by doing so she's shaken off her early-season rust in time to, hopefully, spring a clay-court major surprise.

As strong testament to the relentless power of will, late tennis legend Vitas Gerulaitis' famous 1980 quote has fittingly found a new variant: Nobody beats Zheng Qinwen seven times in a row.

In her seventh attempt at scaling "Mount Aryna", after falling short six times, China's reigning Olympic champion Zheng, anointed "Queen "by her legion of fans, has finally overcome what has been a constant hurdle in her fledgling career by beating Belarusian world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets in their quarterfinal at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia on Wednesday. The victory propels Zheng into the semifinals for the first time in her three appearances at the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome.