Down 5-0 in the first set against former champion and No. 8 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, it seemed Qinwen Zheng’s Cinderella run through the U.S. Open was coming to an end.
But the magic continued as the long shot from China rallied to become the first qualifier to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals since Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu in 2021 with a stunning 7-5, 6-3 upset of Swiatek on Monday in New York.
“It’s been a long, long time I (have) played on the center court. I just really appreciate it to be here in the (Arthur) Ashe Stadium,” Zheng said. “I just focus point by point, and little by little, I start to play better tennis, I start to find my game. And in one moment, I even forgot the score in the first set at 4-5. That shows how I’m focused.”
Zheng, 23, was the fourth-ranked player in the world in June 2025 before an extended absence following right elbow surgery. The downtime left her at No. 121 in the world rankings entering the final Grand Slam event of the season and needing to win three qualifying matches to make the main draw.
She’s now through to her third career U.S. Open quarterfinal after previously doing so in 2023 and 2024.
After Zheng rallied from down 5-0 to win the third set against Madison Keys in the third round, she again found herself in a hole against Swiatek.
Zheng lost her first two service games despite saving three break points. A switch flipped from there, though, as she won the next seven games, saving three set points before converting her first.
The second set was better balanced, with both players maintaining serve through six games before Zheng won the final three games, finally closing out the win on a break of serve while on her fourth match point.
Zheng won despite a 41% first-serve percentage because she won 83% of her first-serve points (20 of 24) and played a cleaner game. She had 20 winners to 17 unforced errors compared to 17 and 28 for Swiatek.
“More matches I play, more rhythm I got on court,” Zheng said. “People often ask me if you’re tired. I mean, when I arrived here, I’m not tired at all, I just feel really pumped. For my next match, trying to reach better level here, trying to show my tennis and enjoy at this fantastic stadium.”
Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam winner, made just one quarterfinal appearance in Grand Slam events this year.
Zheng faces another tough task in Wednesday’s quarterfinal as No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan knocked out No. 13 Naomi Osaka of Japan 6-1, 6-4.
“I honestly didn’t expect it,” Rybakina told the fans in Louis Armstrong Stadium after the match.
Rybakina dominated with her first serve as she won 27 of 31 points (87.1%) against the two-time U.S. Open champion. Osaka managed just one break-point opportunity, but Rybakina stopped it.
If Rybakina defeats Zheng, she will become the new World No. 1 when the official rankings are updated next Monday. Aryna Sabalenka, who has been atop the World rankings since Oct. 21, 2024, will stay No. 1 if Zheng defeats Rybakina and Sabalenka goes on to win the U.S. Open.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 4 seed Coco Gauff defeated No. 14 Iva Jovic in an all-American clash, 6-1, 6-4.
Seeking her second U.S. Open title, Gauff has yet to drop a set through four rounds. At 22, she is the youngest American woman since Serena Williams in 2003 to reach three major quarterfinals in the same year.
She had praise for Jovic, who at 18 reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the fourth round at both Wimbledon and New York.
“She is an incredible player, an incredible talent,” Gauff said. “She plays beyond her years, and I’ve been in a similar position as her, so I’m looking forward to many more battles out here. I’m sure we’ll be playing a lot more matches in the future.”
“I think the difference was just finally capitalizing on those break-point opportunities,” she added after converting 5 of 11 such chances.
Gauff is 5-0 all-time against her quarterfinal opponent, No. 5 Mirra Andreeva. The Russian held off an upset bid, beating No. 24 Anastasia Potapova of Austria 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to reach her first career U.S. Open quarterfinal.
Andreeva, 19, was broken to start and finish the first set. She overcame eight double faults and more than twice as many unforced errors (48) as winners (23) by converting 6 of 10 break points.
Potapova required medical attention on her knee after a fall while trailing 5-3 in the final set.
“Seeing what a battle we had, and seeing in the last game her fall like this, it’s not easy,” Andreeva said. “It’s not the way obviously you want to finish the match, or to see one of your good friends finish the match.
“I just told her that she’s been playing amazing so far, she’s been having one of the best seasons, and I’m sure that she’s going to come back even stronger because she’s a warrior. I think she’s even a better fighter than me.”
–Field Level Media
