New York (AFP) – Olympic gold medallist Zheng QinWen pulled off another incredible comeback Monday to stun six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek and reach the US Open quarter-finals. It was one more gritty win for the Chinese star, a former world number four now ranked 121st in the wake of elbow surgery last year. Zheng won the last seven games to stun Madison Keys in her previous match.
After falling behind 5-0 in the first set against Swiatek, she again reeled off seven straight games. She broke the Polish star twice in the second set to clinch the win over the player she beat in the gold medal match in Paris two years ago. Swiatek, who fell to Zheng in that gold medal match, left the Arthur Ashe Stadium in tears. “I guess to come back from 0-5 (Saturday) is not lucky, that’s all I can say,” Zheng said after becoming the first qualifier or lucky loser to beat Swiatek at a Grand Slam.
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Zheng mentioned that it took her some time to settle in on the cavernous Ashe Stadium court, noting it’s been “a long, long time” since she’d been scheduled on a main show court. “I just focus on point by point,” added Zheng, who saved three set points in the opening set and, with momentum on her side, broke Swiatek twice in the second. It was back to the drawing board for Swiatek in a largely disappointing year, but she insisted that the sting of surrendering a 5-0 lead wouldn’t linger. “You can lose a set from any score, so nothing special about that,” she said. “Just that’s what happened and that’s it.”
Zheng is the first qualifier to reach the US Open women’s quarter-finals since Emma Raducanu, who went on to win the title, in 2021. She’ll face either world number two Elena Rybakina or two-time US Open winner Naomi Osaka for a place in the semi-finals. Rybakina, who won her second major title at the Australian Open in January, needs just two more wins to be assured of supplanting Aryna Sabalenka atop the world rankings. She has yet to drop a set but will be stepping up in class against four-time major winner Osaka.
In other early action, fifth-seeded French Open champion Mirra Andreeva advanced with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Anastasia Potapova in a match marred by an injury to Potapova in the final game. Russia’s Andreeva had won her three previous matches in straight sets, but she made a sloppy start against Potapova, who was also born in Russia but now plays for Austria.
The 19-year-old Grand Slam champion steadied herself. Potapova was serving to stay in the match when she lost her footing leaning for a ball and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Andreeva rushed to her side and helped her to her chair, where Potapova received treatment on her knee before limping through the rest of the game. “Nastya, she’s my good friend,” Andreeva said. “Seeing what a battle we had and seeing in the last game her fall like this, it’s not easy. I can imagine what she’s going through and I have goosebumps on my body.”
Men’s top seed Alexander Zverev was once again slated to close the action on Ashe, taking on 21st-seeded Italian Luciano Darderi. The French Open champion has become a late-night fixture, playing into the small hours not only in two five-set marathons but also in his three-set third round win over Alejandro Tabilo. The German is vying to make the US Open quarter-finals for a fifth time, while Darderi will make the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time if he can pull off the biggest win of his career.
Up first under the lights, fourth-seeded former champion Coco Gauff took on 18-year-old fellow American Iva Jovic. Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo and Belgian Alexander Blockx, both coming off upset wins, also battled for a last-eight place.
© 2024 AFP
