China's Zheng Qinwen returns the ball to France's Alize Cornet during their women's singles match on day seven of the Roland-Garros Open tennis tournament at the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris on May 28, 2022. (JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

TORONTO- China's Zheng Qinwen failed to reach her first WTA 1000 semifinals as she lost to Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the National Bank Open on Friday.

The former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening set, but Zheng won five straight games and came back to steal the set

The former world No.1 Pliskova jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening set, but Zheng won five straight games and came back to steal the set.

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In the second set, Zheng failed to repeat the comeback in the previous set when trailing 3-0, and Pliskova wrapped up the match with an identical 6-4 in the decider.

The up-and-down match took two hours and 34 minutes, with Pliskova's total score of 104 slightly higher than Zheng's 103.

Pliskova, last year's runner-up, will meet Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia, who knocked out Belinda Bencic from Switzerland.

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In the other semifinals, Jessica Pegula of the United States will face Romanian Simona Halep.