Day 6 Review: Men's final set; Zheng and Swiatek survive

It was a dramatic Day 6 at the China Open, which saw 2023 China Open champion Iga Swiatek and China's Gold Medalist Zheng Qinwen survive three-set duels, while Novak Djokovic and Alex de Minaur booked their spots in the men's final in a pair of matches that ended abruptly.

Six-time China Open champion Novak Djokovic improved his tournament record to 33-0 after building a 7-5, 5-3 lead over No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals, before Medvedev was defaulted for defaulted for hitting a spectator with a ball. 

The 39-year-old Serb will go for his 102nd career title on Tuesday when he faces No. 5 seed Alex de Minaur, who advanced to his second final of the season after Hubert Hurkacz retired with an abductor injury down 6-4, 3-2 in the earlier semifinal. 

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The women's action was highlighted by the first two matches of the Diamond Court's day session. Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek overcame a 6-4, 5-2 deficit by breaking Donna Vekic twice as the Croatian served for the match, and then raced to a 4-6, 7-6(0) 6-2 victory. 

The win returned Swiatek to Beijing's Round of 16 where she will face No. 10 seed Iva Jovic. The 18-year-old American eased through to her third WTA 1000 Round of 16 of the year by defeating Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 7-5. An upset win over Swiatek would put Jovic into her first career WTA 1000 quarterfinal.

China's Zheng Qinwen followed Swiatek and continued her late season resurgence by besting Marie Bouzkova 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-5. The third-round battle kept the Diamond Court crowd riveted for nearly three hours. Playing in her first WTA tournament since her surprise quarterfinal run at the U.S. Open, Zheng is a win away from making her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since her semifinal run in Rome last year. 

Zheng will face Armenian qualifier Alina Charaeva, who continues her breakout run in Beijing. The 118th-ranked Charaeva stunned World No. 1 Elena Rybakina in the second round and followed up the win by defeating Great Britain's Sonay Kartal 6-4, 6-1 in the third round. 

2024 champion Coco Gauff closed out the night session by defeating 16-year-old Sun Xinran 7-5, 6-1. The No. 3 seed will next play Belgian veteran Elise Mertens, who bested Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. 

The last Round of 16 clash in the top-half of the women's draw will see No. 6 seed Elina Svitolina against American Ann Li. Svitolina held off Maria Sakkari 6-4, 7-5, while Li scored a notable upset over No. 9 seed Belinda Bencic, winning 6-4, 6-3. 

The men's doubles final is also set for Tuesday. Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool's quest to qualify for the ATP Finals got a boost after they booked a spot in the China Open final by defeating Robert Cash and Alexander Erler 6-1, 7-6(2). Cash and Glasspool will face the Dutch pair of Sander Arends and David Pel.