COMEBACK QUEEN: Zheng takes down Swiatek; Rybakina, Gauff advance

NEW YORK (AFP) — Zheng Qinwen pulled off another US Open stunner Monday, rallying to beat Iga Swiatek, 7-5, 6-3, and reach the quarterfinals as Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff advanced.

It was one grittier win for Zheng, the Paris Olympics gold medalist and a former world No. 4 now ranked 121st after struggling in the wake of elbow surgery last year.

Zheng had won the last seven games, saving a match point as she shocked Madison Keys in her previous match.

After falling behind 5-0 in the first set against six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek she again reeled off seven straight.

She then broke Swiatek twice in the second set to clinch the win.

Swiatek, who fell to Zheng in the gold medal match in Paris two years ago, left the Arthur Ashe Stadium in tears.

“I guess to come back from 0-5 (Saturday) is not lucky, that’s all I can say,” Zheng said after becoming the first qualifier or lucky loser to beat Swiatek at a Grand Slam.

Zheng said it took her some time to settle in on the cavernous Ashe court, noting it’s been “a long, long time” since she had been scheduled on a main show court.

“I just focus on point by point,” Zheng said, adding that she was so focused on the rallies that she lost track of the score.

Zheng is the first qualifier to reach the US Open women’s quarter-finals since Emma Raducanu — who went on to win the title — in 2021.

She will next face world No. 2 Rybakina, the reigning Australian Open champion, who cruised past a hurting Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-4 in just 66 minutes.

Rybakina is not only chasing a third Grand Slam title. If she beats Zheng to reach the semi-finals she will seize the number one ranking from Aryna Sabalenka — even if the Belarusian wins a third straight crown.

“Of course, I want it,” Rybakina said. “I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t wish this.”

But, she added: “I try to approach the same, fight to the end in my next match — let’s see what will happen.”

Fourth-seeded Coco Gauff reached the quarter-finals for the first time since she won the title in 2023, beating 18-year-old US compatriot Iva Jovic 6-1, 6-4.

Gauff next faces fifth-seeded French Open champion Mirra Andreeva, a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 winner over Anastasia Potapova.

An injury to Potapova in the final game marred an entertaining contest. When Potapova crashed to the ground lunging for a ball Andreeva rushed to her side. The Russian-born Austrian received treatment on her knee before limping to the finish line.

Alexander Blockx’s dream debut continued with a gritty 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, which made the 21-year-old the first Belgian man to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open.

Blockx, who started the year ranked outside the top 100, said he was “close to retiring” because of sharp pain in an injured rib in the first set.