WHAT HAPPENED: One of last year’s quarterfinalists and this year’s buzzy youngsters, Zheng Qinwen of China, found her Queens stride in a commanding third-round win at the 2024 US Open on Friday.
After a slightly shaky two matches that were both pushed to three sets, Zheng decided she was done messing around. The 21-year-old downed German Jule Niemeier, 6-2, 6-1, in a brisk 81 minutes to push into Round 4.
“Finally, it’s the first match I’ve won in two sets,” she said on court after the win, with a laugh. “I’m really happy to play in front of the crowds here and I enjoyed a lot today.”
It’s old news by this point in the season: Zheng has caught a lot of eyes. The 2022 WTA Newcomer of the Year and 2023 WTA Most Improved Player validated the buzz with a run to the Melbourne final earlier this season and a recent singles gold medal grab at the Paris Olympic Games. Now she’s back into the fourth round in Flushing Meadows, pushing to improve upon her quarterfinal result from last year.
The first set of today’s match opened neck-and-neck in front of a Grandstand crowd that was heavily pulling for Zheng, with loud chants of “Jiayou!” ringing through the stands—a Mandarin phrase that Zheng said translates loosely to “Let’s go!” in English.
The first break of the set didn’t come until the sixth game, when Zheng cracked Niemeier to take control at 4-2. Her eventual 6-2 grab of the set was a bit closer than it looked, however, with the German drawing four games out to deuce—but those all went the way of the young Chinese star.
Zheng’s dominance reared its head in earnest in the second set. With zero breaks of serve and winning 26 points to Neimeier’s 11, she made it look quick and easy. The Grandstand roared as Zheng clinched clinched the 6-1 second set—and the match—as a struggling Neimeier looked on.
“When you have the crowd behind you, you feel you have the more energy to play,” Zheng said after the match. “I feel [that] the support from them will give me more courage, and I feel I have more power to be thorough on the court.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Zheng has now booked a fourth-round date with the winner between No. 24 Croatian Donna Vekic and American Peyton Stearns. Both players would be running into Zheng in the midst of strong personal runs—Vekic was a semifinalist at Wimbledon just months ago (and lost to Zheng in the gold medal match in Paris), and rising home star Stearns took down No. 12 Daria Kasatkina in the second round. She also reached Round 4 of the US Open last year.
“For me it’s just another match to go. It doesn’t matter who I go against,” said Zheng, looking forward. “I will be prepared.”
If one dares to look beyond that, Zheng’s slot in No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka’s quarter of the draw means the young Chinese star could be inching towards a clash with one of the tour’s most dominant players. If both women reach the final eight, it will be the second year in a row that the two have met in the US Open’s quarterfinals—Sabalenka nabbed the victory during last year’s straight-sets meeting there, then did the same to Zheng again in this year’s Australian Open final. It would be a rematch to look out for.
MATCH POINT: Zheng has now won 15 of her last 16 matches, a streak that included a win over No. 1 Iga Swiatek en route to her gold medal in Paris.
