Zheng Qinwen’s hard-court revival has carried her from the US Open qualifying draw into the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows, where the world No. 121 will meet Elena Rybakina on Wednesday after a punishing training block in Bradenton, Florida.
Key takeaways
- Zheng has reached her third US Open quarterfinal, the highest total by a Chinese player in the Open Era.
- The Olympic champion came through three qualifying rounds before beating Iga Swiatek in the last 16.
- Her run includes a match-point escape against Madison Keys after trailing 5-0 in the deciding set.
- With no points to defend from last year’s tournament, Zheng is assured of collecting 430 ranking points.
- She withdrew from Cincinnati after losing 6-3, 6-4 in Toronto qualifying and instead trained at IMG Academy.
Florida block changes Zheng’s New York fortunes
The route to the final eight has been anything but straightforward for Zheng. Toronto marked her first appearance in WTA qualifying since January 2023, and the defeat there prompted a direct conversation with coach Pere Riba.
Zheng said Riba made clear that her level could not continue as it was and urged her to step away for a focused period of practice. She accepted the plan almost immediately, choosing to miss the Cincinnati Open and travel to Bradenton instead.
At IMG Academy, the schedule was stripped back to its essentials: court work, gym sessions and recovery. Zheng recalled one particularly long day that began at 8 a.m. and did not finish until 8:30 p.m. She described the camp as the most demanding training spell of her career, but said the work had helped reconnect the separate parts of her game.
“The effort has to be there in sport,” Zheng said. “If you do not work hard, the results will show it. I’m happy with what we did together, because now the work is paying back.”
Qualifier’s momentum sets up Rybakina test
Zheng arrived in New York after an uneven season following an elbow injury that kept her out for several months. Before the US Open, she stood at 11-13 for the year and had not won more than two consecutive matches. Her first-round loss at Roland Garros to eventual runner-up Maja Chwalinska also pushed her outside the top 100.
That defeat remained difficult for Zheng to revisit because she felt she had missed numerous openings in the match. In retrospect, she viewed it as a lesson in remaining grounded and rebuilding gradually after injury and poor results.
“There are no gifts in this sport,” Zheng said. “I had to heal myself over time and slowly find my game again.”
On the blue hard courts of New York, the turnaround has been emphatic. In the third round, Zheng saved match point against Keys and recovered from 5-0 down in the final set. She then took 13 of the last 16 games against Swiatek on Monday to seal a straight-sets place in the quarterfinals.
Rybakina now waits in the bottom-half quarterfinal, with Zheng carrying the resilience built through qualifying into a far more demanding stage of the draw. Zheng said confidence had remained with her even through the difficult months, arguing that belief is a necessary foundation for winning tight matches.
“I know what I can do,” she said. “The difficult part was showing it in matches. But confidence helped me through qualifying and through the tough matches here.”
SEO Title: Zheng Qinwen reaches US Open quarterfinal after Florida training block
SEO Description: Zheng Qinwen has surged from US Open qualifying to the quarterfinals, earning 430 ranking points and setting up a Wednesday hard-court clash with Elena Rybakina.
