Qinwen Zheng (Image credit: X)
“I thought to myself, I don’t want to be beaten 6-0. Some 27 minutes after saving match point, Zheng, who also enjoyed fair backing from the crowd, had completed one of the most remarkable turnarounds of the tournament, winning the final seven games, saving a match point in the seventh game, to claim a 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 in two hours and 28 minutes. 121, has now won six straight matches. An hour later when the 31-year-old walked into the press room, the disappointment was still raw. The foundation of Zheng’s comeback was a training block she committed to last month, it meant she didn’t play Cincinnati, a WTA 1000 event, and also that she would have to start in the qualifying draw of the season’s final Grand Slam. Join conversation Share your thoughts in the comments Be respectful · TOI community guidelines Next up for Zheng is six-time major champion and former No.1 Iga Swiatek. On Arthur Ashe, ninth seed Taylor Fritz led two sets to love and had a break in hand against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, but the 25th-ranked Argentine fought back to record a 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win. Cerundolo will face 21-year-old Belgian Alexander Blockx on Monday. Blockx powered past fifth seed Flavio Cobolli 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 to reach the fourth round at a major for the first time.
At the end when I won the match, it’s, like, wow, that’s incredible.
I just want to win one game in that moment,” she said of the little steps she took mentally. “I’m sure everyone could kind of see that I was struggling a little bit, but inside it felt probably even bigger than that,” she said. “We have been working really hard to make a good result here at the US Open,” she said.
“After that I felt better on court, I felt I have a lot of energy. I kept pushing, kept fighting. The Chinese star, who entered the qualifying draw at Flushing Meadows ranked No. Keys had watched the match slip through her fingers and was beside herself, banging her head against the guts of her racket in frustration after dropping serve in the 11th game of the decider. She spoke of changes she would need to make, but offered no details. “At the end she started playing better, I started playing poorly. Then I felt like I couldn’t play tennis anymore, and it was like a much bigger deal than just playing a tennis match all of a sudden. “But I never think anything about result, I just want to fight every single match and put the energy in each match, and let’s see what’s happen. I forgot how to compete. I didn’t have the right energy in my tennis. After this block of training, I felt stronger physically and also mentally. It was not a good day for Americans who had built commanding leads at Flushing Meadows. Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.
But on Saturday afternoon, her stunning result also needed some help from the other side of the net.
NEW YORK CITY: Qinwen Zheng was down love-5 in the deciding set of her US Open third-round clash against Madison Keys, the 2025 Australian Open champion. The 23-year-old Chinese qualifier, ranked as high as No. 4 in the world just 14 months ago, could hardly have been in a worse position. She had fought back to level the match at a set apiece after blowing a 5-3 lead in the second set, but now her US Open comeback appeared to be running out of road.
The spectators on the Grandstand had settled into their seats. It was all over bar the shouting. Or so it seemed. Zheng, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on her right elbow last July, had every reason to feel the weight of it all. Instead, she refused to look back.