Six-time major tournament winner Iga Swiatek (8th in the world) lost on Monday in the round of 16 of the US Open, knocked down by Chinese Zheng Qinwen (121st) while leading 5-0 in the first set.
The winner of the Olympic tournament at the Paris Games won 7-5, 6-3 against the 25-year-old Pole. The former world No. 4, who had to go through qualifying for the US Open this year, will face the Kazakhstani Elena Rybakina (2nd) or the Japanese Naomi Osaka (13th) for a place in the last four.
Already miraculous in the third round against the American Madison Keys, whom she had eliminated by saving a match point after being led 5-0 in the third set, Zheng Qinwen signed a second improbable comeback in a row by winning the first set 7-5 against Swiatek after losing the first five games of the match.
Obviously annoyed by the turn of the match and embarrassed by the length of the Chinese ball, Swiatek committed more and more unforced errors as the match progressed and definitively gave up after being broken at 3-3 in the second set.
Despite a final last stand from the Pole, who dismissed three match points in a row at 5-3, 0-40, the Olympic champion validated her qualification two points later.
She will play her third quarter-final in New York on Wednesday, after 2023 and 2024. The Chinese’s best Grand Slam result is a final of the Australian Open, lost in 2024 against current world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.
A first shift in New York for Andreeva
Mirra Andreeva (5th in the world), Roland-Garros champion, qualified Monday at 19 for her first quarter-final at the US Open. On the Louis-Armstrong court, the Russian beat Anastasia Potapova (25th), who has represented Austria since the end of 2025, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
After early eliminations in Toronto and Cincinnati, Andreeva is gaining strength on North American hard courts. She will face Coco Gauff or Iva Jovic on Wednesday for a place in the semi-finals. Despite a first set lost on two double faults, she snatched the second set thanks to a break at 3-3, before dominating the last set. Potapova finished in tears after locking her left knee in the final game.
