RIYADH - China's Paris Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen advanced to the final of the WTA Finals after defeating the Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinal here on Friday. Zheng reached the final on her WTA Finals debut, matching another Chinese player, former French Open champion Li Na's best result in 2013.

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Zheng, making her WTA Finals debut, got off to a great start against eighth seed Krejcikova, with an early break to take a 3-0 lead.

The Czech saved three set points at 5-2 down but Zheng won the next game to love and took the first set with ease.

The second set looked to be going the same way as Zheng again raced into a 3-0 lead, this time with two breaks of serve, but Krejcikova finally got into her groove, winning the next four games with two breaks of her own.

The next three games went with serve to leave the pair tied at 5-5 before Zheng managed to break again, leaving her to serve for the match. Krejcikova fought hard, saving the first match point, but Zheng finally got the job done.

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"It feels so special. This is my first WTA Finals, and now I'm in the final," Zheng said. "She (Krejcikova) is a really good player. We gave a good match. I don't know what happened when I was leading 3-0."

American Coco Gauff defeated world number one Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(4) 6-3 in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals on Friday and will take on China's Zheng in the showpiece match.

Sabalenka will end the year at the top of the world rankings but her bid for a maiden WTA Finals title was ended by Gauff who reached her first final at the end-of-season event.

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"I'm happy with the way I played, she's world number one for a reason," said Gauff, who can now look forward to Saturday's final against Zheng.

"I'm not really nervous to be honest and the year-end I see it as just a plus and being here is a reward for the season I've had," the third seed added.