US Open: China’s Zheng Qinwen through to quarter-finals after beating last year’s runner-up, Ons Jabeur
- Zheng storms to 6-2, 6-4 win in New York to move one step closer to joining elite group of Chinese players
- She will face soon-to-be world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in last eight at Flushing Meadows
Zheng Qinwen routed last year’s US Open runner-up Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-4 to move into the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows for her best performance ever in a grand slam tournament.
Zheng, who is seeded No 23, becomes the first Chinese player to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament since Wang Qiang in 2019. She did it by overpowering the fifth-seeded Tunisian with an aggressive baseline game that produced 21 winners.
“I feel just super happy and excited to play in a big stadium and have a really good performance today,” the 20-year-old Zheng told the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd.
For Jabeur, who committed 33 unforced errors and has appeared ill at times during her US Open run, it was a disappointing finish after reaching the finals of three of the last five grand slam events, including twice at Wimbledon.
Zheng’s win mean three of last year’s four US Open singles finalists are gone, leaving only second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, a Belarusian who will take over the No 1 spot in the WTA rankings because of the fourth-round loss by No 1 seed Iga Swiatek.
Zheng will play Sabalenka, who beat Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3. That will give Zheng the chance to play for more history – to equal the best runs ever by Chinese players at the US Open, semi-finals appearances by Peng Shuai in 2014 and Li Na in 2013.