Chinese star tennis player Zheng Qinwen reaches WTA finals

China's Paris Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen advanced to the WTA Finals after defeating the Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinal in Riyadh of Saudi Arabia on Friday.

Speaking with Chinese state broadcaster China Media Group (CMG) after her win, the Chinese tennis sensation said she was happy to reach World No. 5 in live rankings.

"I'm happy that I moved up to the 5th in the year-end world rankings. I've been ranking the 7th since the start of the year, and played so hard tournament-to-tournament, finally jumped to the 5th." said Zheng.

During the interview, the 22-year-old also reflected on fighting back when trailing 3-4 in the second set.

"I was not focused enough at that time and my performance was a little bit weak. My opponent on the contrary played more relaxed, I wasted too much time waiting for my opponent's mistakes instead of playing more aggressively. But I think this is part of tennis, the situation can reverse real quickly if you miss a few chances. So this is sort of a lesson for me. But I think what I've done well is that I managed to play calmly even when I was trailing by 3-4. I failed to do that in the previous games, but I did it today," said Zheng.

"I was leading by 3-0, but lost two serves. This was a mistake that should not have happened on an indoor hard court. So I stayed very focused on my next serve when I was on the court. And I knew that I always had a chance in her serve, because I could basically receive every serve. And I found that she played better and better as the game went on. And I also delivered exciting moments. I think in the end it was a competition of aura and psychological resilience," she continued.

The Chinese tennis player will face World No.3 Coco Gauff in the final on Saturday.

Zheng reached the final on her WTA Finals debut, matching another Chinese player, former French Open champion Li Na's best result in 2013.

Chinese star tennis player Zheng Qinwen reaches WTA finals

Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez said on Sunday that the country is at a critical stage and must achieve national unity, emphasizing that maintaining internal cohesion is of utmost importance.

In a televised address, Rodriguez called on the public to continue trusting the government under the current highly complex political circumstances.

Her statement comes in the wake of a January 3 military operation conducted by the United States, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were taken into custody and flown out of the country.

The operation resulted in at least 100 fatalities.

Rodriguez, who was sworn in as acting president two days later on January 5, framed her appeal for unity against this backdrop of external intervention.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Minister of Communication and Information Freddy Nanez denounced the U.S. actions as a "war crime of the 21st century" when speaking at an international cultural event on Sunday.

Nanez condemned not only the January 3 airstrikes but also the associated cyber and electromagnetic attacks.

He accused the United States of violating international law through the forced removal of President Maduro and his wife, while attacks on civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities, represent a flagrant breach of humanitarian norms.

He reiterated that the stigmatization and military attacks against Venezuela are driven by economic interests, particularly the desire to control its abundant natural resources.

Venezuelan acting president calls for national unity amid complex situation