Zheng goes from 5-0 and match point down to victory

Zheng Qinwen was 5-0 down and facing match point in the deciding set. She then won seven games in a row to produce one of the US Open’s most dramatic comebacks.

The Chinese Olympic champion defeated 22nd seed Madison Keys 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 in the third round. Keys, the 2025 Australian Open champion and a crowd favourite, looked in control after taking the opening set in only 23 minutes.

“

Finally, a bit of luck is on my side.

Zheng changed the match in the second set, winning the tie-break before holding her nerve through a remarkable final set. She fell to the court in relief afterward, having saved match point and overturned a seemingly decisive deficit.

“

I am just telling myself ever give up. Somehow, little by little, it's just happened.

“Finally, a bit of luck is on my side,” Zheng said. “I am just telling myself ever give up. Somehow, little by little, it's just happened.” She added that tennis can feel like a rollercoaster, with players sometimes holding match point before their opponent makes a comeback.

The victory continued a difficult return for Zheng, who is rebuilding her career after elbow surgery last year. She did not qualify for a protected ranking because she returned early to play in Beijing in October 2025, forcing her to come through qualifying in New York.

“

Tennis sometimes feels like rollercoaster. You see many times people have a match point, but at the end we made a comeback.

Zheng said she cried after winning her third qualifying match because reaching the main draw felt like only the beginning. She is now the first qualifier to reach the women’s fourth round at the US Open since Britain’s Emma Raducanu went on to win the 2021 title. Zheng has been taken to three sets in four of her six matches in New York.

“

If it's adult, probably I will look at him very hard or start to speak, but it's just a baby. I can't do anything, you know? It's just a baby.