Zheng Stuns Keys as US Stars Crash Out
Zheng Stuns Keys as US Stars Crash Out
The News
Zheng Qinwen beat Madison Keys 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 in the third round of the US Open on Saturday, winning the final seven games after Keys had a match point.
It was one of three American exits in a single day. Amanda Anisimova, the 10th seed and last year's runner-up, lost 6-2, 7-5 to No. 24 Anastasia Potapova. No. 9 Taylor Fritz blew a two-set lead and lost to No. 24 Francisco Cerundolo 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Coco Gauff was the lone bright spot, beating Cristina Bucsa 6-3, 6-4 to reach the round of 16.
How Keys Lost It
The 22nd-seeded Keys, the 2017 US Open runner-up, took the first set and then charged to a 5-0 lead in the third. She had a match point serving at 5-1. She never won another game — banging her racket into her head and pulling off her visor as it slipped away.
Zheng, the 2024 Olympic gold medalist for China, is ranked No. 121 after elbow surgery and had to come through qualifying just to reach the main draw.
Timeline
Keys reaches the US Open final, still her best run in New York. Her lone Grand Slam title comes later, at the 2025 Australian Open.
Zheng reaches the Australian Open final and wins Olympic gold for China. She has been ranked as high as No. 4. Fritz reaches the US Open final the same year.
Anisimova reaches the finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open, losing to Aryna Sabalenka at Flushing Meadows.
Keys survives the previous round in a deciding-set tiebreak, saving five match points.
Anisimova falls to Potapova in straight sets. Zheng rallies past Keys. Fritz loses from two sets up to Cerundolo. Gauff advances.
Reactions
Keys fought off tears trying to explain the collapse. "I feel like I obviously got off to a really good lead, and then I just got really — I mean, got really scared, like I couldn't swing," she said. "Tennis just feels really hard right now, so I feel like that kind of took over." She added that she would have to make changes she has been putting off.
Zheng dropped onto her back with her arms in the air when it ended. "I'm just telling myself keep holding every single point, never give up, stay there and somehow little by little it just happened," she said. "The hard work pays off."
Fritz was blunt: "I don't know how I let that happen today."
Cerundolo, playing his first match in Arthur Ashe Stadium, said he found his game late. "In the third I started to get into it, step by step, and in the fourth and fifth I played really good tennis," he said. "Taylor is a top player, he's played in the final here."
Gauff said the second week no longer surprises her. "Honestly, I feel like I'm definitely used to getting to Week 2s now," she said.
What's Next
Zheng plays Iga Swiatek, the 2022 US Open champion, in the round of 16. Potapova meets No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva, the French Open champion.
Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, faces the winner of No. 17 Alex Eala against 14th-seeded American Iva Jovic.
Naomi Osaka, the two-time champion, was set to play No. 23 Elise Mertens in a Saturday night match. Top-seeded Alexander Zverev, who needed five sets in each of his first two rounds, faced No. 25 Alejandro Tabilo.
More
Anisimova wasted her chances, converting just 3 of 16 break points. Potapova — a 25-year-old born in Russia who now represents Austria — went 6 for 8 and matched her best Grand Slam showing by reaching the fourth round. It is Anisimova's third straight major ending in the third round.
The men's draw is being torn up too. No. 5 Flavio Cobolli, the French Open runner-up, lost in four sets to No. 28 Alexander Blockx, leaving six of the top 10 men's seeds already out.
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