WHAT HAPPENED: Zhu Lin flipped the script from a narrow loss to Victoria Azarenka Down Under at the start of the season to bounce the No. 18 seed in the second round of the 2023 US Open, 6-3, 6-3, on a sunny Wednesday afternoon.
In their only previous meeting, Zhu had lost a nearly three-hour, three-set battle in the Australian Open fourth round. This time, the Chinese 29-year-old had the upper hand to cruise to an unexpectedly comfortable win against the three-time US Open runner-up and two-time Australian Open champion.
“I am still processing everything, but it is amazing. I am happy to have revenge this time,” a smiling Zhu said in her post-match on-court interview.
This has been Zhu’s best season. At No. 44 in the world, she is in the Top 50 for the first time in her career. In addition to reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open, she won her first career singles title at Hua Hin and made the Cleveland semifinals last week to charge into the year’s last Grand Slam with momentum.
“The key is to keep pushing forward,” said Zhu. “I am feeling pretty good, and hopefully I can stay a bit longer.”
The early exit for Azarenka extended a lackluster summer season for her on the hard courts. She lost in the second round at Cincinnati and Montreal and the opening round at Washington.
Historically, the power-hitting 34-year-old has played some of her finest tennis in her lengthy career right here on the hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Her 47 match wins at Flushing Meadows is a total eclipsed by only Venus Williams of the 128 players who started play on Monday.
But Zhu threw that history out the window and was in command and in the lead throughout the 90-minute match in the Grandstand.
Zhu dictated the baseline rallies, and while not the bigger server, she faced just three break points, all in the last game of the match. She broke Azarenka’s serve twice in the first and last game of the opening set and had the only service break in the fourth game of the last set.
Azarenka struggled throughout to find any rhythm and the court with many of her shots. She committed 31 unforced errors and seven double faults.
The first set was highlighted by a 15-minute-plus Azarenka service game with 10 deuces and four break points. She finally won on the seventh game point to pull to within 3-4. That was, however, as close as she could get in the set.
WHAT IT MEANS: Zhu Lin is building a reputation as a giant killer on the WTA Tour. This was her sixth career win over a Top 20 player and second in as many weeks. She beat No. 7 Caroline Garcia to reach the Cleveland semifinals last week.
She gets another crack at an upset in the next round against No. 15 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, the 2020 Olympic gold-medal winner and 2019 US Open semifinalist.
Zhu is looking forward to the next challenge.
“Hard courts are my favorite surface. Let’s see what happens,” she said.
MATCH POINT: In only her second US Open, can Zhu keep winning?
