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Zheng Qinwen is out of the China Open after being beaten in the semi-finals by Karolina Muchov on Saturday.

Muchova disappointed the 15,000 crowd to beat the subdued Olympic champion 6-3, 6-4. The Czech, the lowest-ranked player to reach the Beijing final since the tournament began in 2004, will play Coco Gauff.

Last year’s French Open finalist, Muchova toppled top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals on Friday. She was fully in control against Paris singles gold medallist Zheng, who suffered a hard fall in the opening set and took a lengthy medical timeout.

Muchova eased through that set and was unrelenting in the second to ram home her advantage. Serving to stay in the tournament, Zheng, 21, dug deep to save two match points in the ninth game, but the reprieve was only very brief.

The 28-year-old Muchova was inside the top 10 this time last year but did not play for nearly 10 months after having wrist surgery.