Zheng Qinwen Stuns Iga Swiatek to Reach US Open Quarterfinals

Zheng Qinwen recovered from another 5-0 deficit to beat No. 8 seed Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-3 on Monday and reach the US Open quarterfinals. The Olympic gold medalist became the first qualifier to make the final eight at Flushing Meadows since Emma Raducanu went on to win the title in 2021.

The result sends Zheng back to the quarterfinals in New York after she also reached that stage in 2023 and 2024. Her route has been markedly different this year, however, after elbow surgery meant she had to come through qualifying to earn a place in the main draw.

Against Swiatek, the 2022 US Open champion, Zheng found herself in immediate trouble. She quickly lost the first five games of the opening set, but turned the match around with a sequence of six consecutive games to take the set 7-5.

“I guess to come back 0-5 yesterday is not lucky, that’s all I can say,” Zheng said.

A second straight escape from 5-0 down

Zheng arrived in the fourth round having already produced one remarkable recovery. Two days earlier, she had trailed No. 22 Madison Keys 5-0 in the third set before winning the final seven games of a 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 victory.

Her comeback against Swiatek began after the eighth seed held a 5-0 advantage. Swiatek had two set points while serving at 5-1 but could not take either opportunity. Zheng continued to push back, then saved another set point when Swiatek served with a 5-3 lead.

Zheng said her concentration was so complete during the fightback that she lost track of the score. That point-by-point approach carried her through the rest of the first set and into the second, where she completed the straight-sets win, 6-3.

The victory was a significant reversal against an opponent who had brought a 7-1 head-to-head record into the match. Zheng’s previous win over Swiatek came two years earlier in the Olympic semifinals in Paris, when she rallied from 4-0 down in the second set and ended Swiatek’s 25-match winning streak at Roland Garros.

Swiatek has won four French Open titles, and her history against Zheng made her the established favorite in their latest meeting. But Zheng again demonstrated an ability to survive a difficult scoreboard position, first denying Swiatek the opening set and then pulling clear in the second.

Quarterfinal place secured at Flushing Meadows

For Zheng, the win carries her into the US Open’s last eight for the third time in four years. It also places her alongside Raducanu in a rare recent qualifier achievement at the tournament: no qualifier had reached the quarterfinals in Flushing Meadows since Raducanu’s title run five years earlier.

Zheng will next face either two-time champion Naomi Osaka or No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals. That match will determine which player stands between Zheng and a place in the semifinals.

Elsewhere in the women’s draw, French Open champion Mirra Andreeva came back to defeat No. 24 Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. The No. 5 seed will play either No. 4 Coco Gauff or No. 14 Iva Jovic, who were scheduled to meet in Monday night’s opening match of the night session.

Zheng’s latest recovery is now one of the defining stories of the tournament. Having needed qualifying to enter the draw, she has followed a comeback against Keys with another against Swiatek, turning a 5-0 deficit into a quarterfinal berth.