Mexico’s Renata Zarazua sent shockwaves throughout the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center when she defeated No. 6 seed and 2024 US Open semifinalist Madison Keys in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday afternoon. Learn more about the 27-year-old Mexican after she secured her first Top 10 win by beating the reigning Australian Open champ.
Her older brother introduced her to tennis
Zarazua’s older brother Patricio—who played college tennis at Palm Beach Atlantic University and now coaches his sister—introduced her to tennis at an early age. In her post-match press conference on Monday afternoon, Zarazua talked about how her tennis career came about.
“I used to do gymnastics before and a little bit of diving,” Zarazua said. “Then I got into tennis just because my brother was playing, and he was, like, ‘I think this is a bit safer sport.’ So, that's how I kind of got into tennis, because I couldn't do the three of them at the same time.
“I think after that, I was just playing with my brother, and I think that kind of got me into it. Then I started loving it. I was just really happy that I chose to play [this] sport.”
She upset a seed for the second consecutive year to reach Round 2
Zarazua made her US Open main-draw debut last year where she made it to the second round. Like this year’s, Zarazua scored an upset in order to secure her Round 2 spot, beating No. 28 seed Caroline Garcia.
She also made history for her country with Monday’s win, becoming the first Mexican woman to beat a Top 10 opponent at the US Open.
She has steadily risen in the rankings over the last two years
The 27-year-old has made significant strides up the rankings within the last year. She won four titles last year: two on the ITF circuit (W100 Tyler, W75 Templeton) and two at the WTA 125 level (both in Charleston, on hard and clay) which helped her earn a career-high ranking of world No. 51 in November 2024.
While her victory against Keys is her biggest by ranking and notoriety to date, Zarazua has notched a few wins over some other notable players this year: she beat Yulia Putintseva in Cincinnati, Katie Boulter in Montreal and Taylor Townsend at the Australian Open.
The Mexican also pushed some other notable tour names close in eventual defeats, going three sets with Ajla Tomljanovic, Elena Rybakina, Jelena Ostapenko and Paula Badosa this year.
