WHAT HAPPENED: A day after defending champion Iga Swiatek made an early exit from Flushing Meadows, 20-year-old Zheng Qinwen pummeled the ball with authority to defeat No. 5 seed and 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur, 6-2, 6-4, and reach the US Open quarterfinals for the first time in her career.
Coming into the match, Jabeur held a decisive edge in experience, having previously reached six Grand Slam quarterfinals—including two this season. But she has struggled this fortnight as she recovers from an illness; all three of her previous matches lasted at least two hours.
While Zheng had never before made the quarterfinals of a major, she has been enjoying a strong run-of-form as of late after adding veteran coach Wim Fissette—who previously helped Kim Clijsters, Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber win majors—to her team. The two players had only faced each other once before, in Toronto in 2022. But Jabeur, hampered by abdominal pain, retired early in the second set after Zheng won the first by a comfortable margin, 6-1.
From the outset, the occasion did not seem to remotely intimidate Zheng. She stayed aggressive, dictating play with her hard, flat shots and breaking the 2022 finalist in the third game. She then produced two incredible return winners—one forehand and one backhand—to break again two games later. Although Jabeur was able to reel back one break, she could not once more hold serve. (She’d finish the set winning just 26% of her second serve points.) Zheng served it out on her first attempt to take a one-set advantage.
Initially it appeared the second would go the way of the first, with Zheng immediately breaking—and coming out on top of a grueling, lung-buster of a 20-shot rally in the process, no less. But then she double faulted twice to hand the break right back, and the crowd seemed to sense a momentum shift as Jabeur held her serve for the first time since the first game. Zheng, however, did not sense this shift. She won seven consecutive points—multiple from some ill-timed unforced errors off Jabeur’s racquet—to earn three break point opportunities, and she converted on her third attempt.
Then, there actually was a momentum shift. Down a double break at 5-2, the Tunisian was able to steal a break back as Zheng served for the match. She then had game points on her very own serve, but again made several errors to give her opponent a match point opportunity. She saved the match point and held, giving the 20-year-old something to think about as she stepped to the line to try to serve it out again. She immediately got to 40-0…then lost the next two points. Luckily, she didn’t lose the third, as Jabeur hit her final shot into the net to lose the match.
“Right now I’m super happy and excited to play in a big stadium and have a really good performance,” Zheng said after the match. "Ons is a fantastic player, really tough to beat, and she has a lot of variation in her game. That was a really impressive win for me today."
WHAT IT MEANS: Zheng and Coco Gauff—the two youngest players in the Top 40—have now both reached the 2023 US Open quarterfinals. Zheng next faces the winner of the contest between No. 2 seed (and future world No. 1) Aryna Sabalenka and Daria Kasatkina. She easily defeated Kasatkina, 6-1, 6-2, earlier this year in Abu Dhabi. She has never faced Sabalenka, though that match-up is sure to be a slugfest.
MATCH POINT: The hard-hitting Zheng actually held the edge in shots with over nine rallies, winning six of eight in the match. She also won 10 of 14 points when she ventured to the net.
