Zheng Qinwen has reached the US Open quarter-finals by winning a set after falling behind by 5-0 for the second time in a row defeating former champion Iga Swiatek.
Reigning Olympic champion and former number four ranked Zheng was ranked outside the world’s top 100 earlier this year having trouble finding her best tennis form ever since the surgery on her elbow in July 2025.
China’s Zheng was losing against Madison Keys 5-0 in the deciding set of their third-round match on Saturday, but she went on to win seven games in a row to move into round four.
The self-belief? Extraordinary.
After starting the match 0-5 down in 20 minutes, Zheng Qinwen takes out Swiatek 7-5, 6-3! pic.twitter.com/WHUGzShzrV
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2026
Zheng was also 5-0 down in the first set against Polish eighth seed Swiatek, but won 13 out of the next 16 games at Arthur Ashe Stadium to make it to the quarter-finals against either Naomi Osaka or Elena Rybakina.
The second set remained on serve until the seventh game, where Zheng hit a crushing backhand return winner to earn a vital break, and she also earned another break two games later to win 7-5, 6-3.
According to BBC Sport, the win – her seventh in a row at the New York venue
“The more matches I play, the more rhythm I have on court,” said Zheng.
“People have asked me if I’m tired and when I arrived I was not tired at all. I felt really pumped for my match, trying to reach better levels here and enjoy this fantastic stadium.”
