Zheng Qinwen went through a journey full of ups and downs to advance to the quarterfinals of the US Open 2026 in the early morning of September 8 (Vietnam time).
She created a big shock when she defeated Grand Slam champions Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek in 2 consecutive matches, marking a spectacular comeback in her career.
2 years ago, everything seemed to be in favor of the Chinese player, when she won an Olympic gold medal, reached the final of her first Major tournament at the Australian Open and entered the Top 10 in the world.
However, a elbow injury suddenly stopped Zheng's progress. She was eliminated in the first round of Wimbledon in 2025 before having to undergo surgery.
In the bleak 2026 season with a series of early defeats - including being eliminated in the first round at the French Open and Wimbledon - the 23-year-old player's ranking dropped to 121st, forcing her to participate in the qualifiers in New York.
Psychologically, that is very unacceptable. I mean, I was in the Top 10, was an Olympic champion. I competed in big stadiums from the early days," Zheng shared.
I know people are very skeptical of me, and that's really difficult for me. I just need to keep positive every day, tell myself:'Just keep trying and wait and see when the results come'.
It was really an extremely difficult process. I endured a lot of pain after each defeat. But I think in the end, in sports, you need to be humble and continue to fight, because once you lose that, the result will reveal everything".
The power of positive thinking has been clearly demonstrated in New York.
Zheng made a spectacular comeback from being led 0-5 in the decisive set against Keys (runner-up in 2017) in the 3rd round, and continued to defeat another formidable opponent Swiatek in the 4th round - a match where she was also led 0-5 in the 1st set.
The score of 2 sets was 7-5, 6-3, bringing Zheng to the quarterfinals, where she clashed with No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina.
In the match after that, Rybakina was really too strong compared to Naomi Osaka, when she won 6-1, 6-4 after only 1 hour and 7 minutes.
The Kazakhstani player has won the Australian Open (2026) and Wimbledon (2022), but this is the first time she has reached the US Open quarterfinals.
The quarter-final match with Zheng, who is in high form, will be very difficult, but if she passes to get a ticket to the semi-finals, Rybakina will take the world No. 1 position of Aryna Sabalenka, even if the Belarusian player wins the US Open 2026.
Russian No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva, went through a rather difficult 3-set match to reverse the score and beat Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Unfortunately for the Austrian player, she suffered a knee injury in the final points and bid farewell to the tournament in tears.
