Zheng Qinwen pulls off a huge comeback against Iga Świątek to reach the US Open quarterfinals
Chinese tennis player Zheng Qinwen produced one of the most remarkable comebacks of the 2026 US Open so far. In the round of 16 at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, she trailed eighth seed Iga Świątek 0:5 in the first set, but then won seven consecutive games, took the set 7:5 and eventually prevailed 7:5, 6:3. According to the official US Open report, the match was played on Monday, September 7, and with the victory Zheng reached her third quarterfinal at the New York Grand Slam. The result drew particular attention because of the circumstances in which the Chinese player arrived at the tournament: after a long period marked by injury and a fall to No. 121 in the WTA rankings, she had to go through qualifying just to enter the main draw. Her victory over Świątek is therefore not only an upset in an individual match, but also confirmation of an exceptionally strong comeback by a player who, a little more than a year ago, belonged to the very top of the world game.
From 0:5 to seven games in a row
The start of the match suggested a completely different course of events. Świątek, the 2022 US Open champion and a multiple Grand Slam winner, raced to a 5:0 lead and appeared to have complete control of the first set. Zheng, however, managed to change the rhythm of the match, reduce the number of errors and gradually impose a more aggressive game from the baseline. The official US Open report states that it was precisely at that stage that she began finding the shots that had once taken her to the 2024 Australian Open final and into the world's top four. Instead of closing out the set, Świątek lost her advantage: Zheng won seven games in a row and went from 0:5 to 7:5, completely changing the psychological complexion of the match.
The comeback was even more significant because it was not an isolated incident. Just two days earlier, Zheng had also trailed Madison Keys 0:5 in the third round, this time in the deciding third set. According to US Open data, she also saved a match point at 1:5 before going on to defeat Keys 1:6, 7:6(3), 7:5. Thus, in two consecutive matches against former Grand Slam champions, she managed to win a set after falling five games behind. Tournament organizers highlighted that sequence as one of the most striking details of her run through New York, while Zheng herself, after defeating Świątek, pointed out that the comeback against Keys was clearly no coincidence.
Świątek was unable to regain control
After losing the first set, the Polish player tried to re-establish control, but Zheng did not allow her to return to the pattern of the opening games. The Chinese player remained aggressive in the rallies and more effective at key moments, making the decisive move late in the second set. According to official WTA statistics, Zheng converted five of 13 break points during the match, while Świątek converted two of seven. The Chinese player won 75 of the 138 total points, or 54.3 percent, and her efficiency behind the first serve was particularly important: she won 20 of 24 points after landing her first serve. She completed the match in straight sets, thereby avoiding the possibility of the contest once again turning into the physically and mentally exhausting battle she had experienced against Keys.
After the defeat, Świątek admitted that she had allowed her opponent back into the match. The US Open reported her assessment that, after leading 5:0, she lost control of the course of the match and gave Zheng room to stage a comeback. For the Polish player, it was an unexpected end to a tournament in which she had reached the round of 16 without dropping a set. In the third round she defeated Marie Bouzkova in two tie-breaks, and as the eighth seed she entered the match against Zheng as the clearly higher-ranked player. Nevertheless, ranking and their previous head-to-head record were not enough this time to stop a qualifier who had played throughout the tournament with an exceptionally high level of resilience in crisis situations.
First qualifier in the quarterfinals since Raducanu
By defeating Świątek, Zheng became the first qualifier to reach the US Open women's singles quarterfinals since Emma Raducanu in 2021. The Briton went all the way from qualifying to the title that year, becoming the first player in history to win a Grand Slam after coming through the qualifying tournament. In Zheng's case, for now it can only be described as a statistical connection, but the fact that she has already come through three qualifying matches and four main-draw matches in New York shows how demanding her path has been. The US Open states that she had spent almost 15 hours on court by the quarterfinals, including several three-set matches and a series of situations in which she came very close to elimination.
For Zheng, this is the fifth Grand Slam quarterfinal of her career. She also reached the same stage in New York in 2023 and 2024, while in 2024 she advanced to the Australian Open final. Such results explain why her current position in the WTA rankings does not reflect the true experience and quality of the player. The WTA states that Zheng reached world No. 4 in mid-2025, and before her injury-related decline she was an established member of the elite of women's tennis. Returning to the US Open quarterfinals therefore represents an important step toward rejoining the best, especially because she was not defending points from the previous season at this year's tournament.
Elbow injury halted her rise
A large part of the story surrounding her performance this year is connected with problems that began during 2025. According to WTA data, Zheng underwent surgery on her right elbow after Wimbledon 2025, an injury that had troubled her through much of the season. She attempted to return at the China Open in Beijing in September of that year and recorded her first victory since June there, but she herself emphasized at the time that she was not yet fully ready. After the brief comeback, she had to take another extended break, missing the 2025 US Open and the 2026 Australian Open. She returned to a fuller competitive schedule only during this season, but the results did not immediately meet expectations.
Because of absences and early defeats, her ranking dropped outside the top 100, leaving her as the world No. 121 heading into the US Open. That sent her into qualifying, an unusual situation for a former world No. 4 and Olympic champion. The WTA states that the last time she had played Grand Slam qualifying before this was at the 2022 Australian Open, at the beginning of her career on the biggest stage. In New York she opened qualifying with a 6:3, 6:2 victory over Chinese compatriot You Xiaodi, then defeated Clara Burel 6:1, 7:5, and in the final qualifying round beat Elena Pridankina 6:4, 3:6, 6:0. That secured her a place in the main draw and began the second, even more demanding part of the tournament.
A difficult path through the main draw
Even after coming through qualifying, Zheng did not have an easy path. In the first round against Kristina Liutova, she lost the opening set 4:6, but then turned the match around and won the next two sets 6:3, 6:1. In the second round she defeated Yulia Putintseva 6:4, 2:6, 6:1, meaning that she had already been forced into a deciding set in each of her first two main-draw matches. The third round against Madison Keys produced an even more dramatic scenario: after losing the opening set 1:6, Zheng leveled the match by winning the tie-break before recovering from 0:5 and saving a match point in the third set. That 1:6, 7:6(3), 7:5 triumph opened the way to her meeting with Świątek and showed that she was physically prepared for long matches despite the strain associated with returning after surgery.
In that context, the victory over Świątek carries additional significance. Zheng reached the round of 16 after six previous matches in qualifying and the main tournament, and four of her victories before facing the Polish player had gone to three sets. Despite that, against one of the most successful players of her generation she managed to finish the job in straight sets. That reduces the physical burden ahead of the quarterfinal, but does not change the fact that her path through the tournament has already been considerably longer than that of most of the remaining seeds. Her ability to recover between matches will therefore be one of the important factors in the rest of the tournament.
Second victory over Świątek, both on the big stage
Before this match, Zheng had a very unfavorable head-to-head record against Świątek. According to the WTA, the victory in New York was only her second against the Polish player in nine Tour meetings. She recorded the first in the semifinals of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, when she won 6:2, 7:5 and then claimed the gold medal in singles. In doing so, she became the first Chinese tennis player to win Olympic singles gold. Now she has earned her second victory over Świątek on another of the sport's biggest stages, on the US Open's main stadium.
The WTA also highlighted another statistic: before facing Zheng, Świątek had a 15:0 record against qualifiers and lucky losers at Grand Slam tournaments. Zheng became the first player from either of those two categories to defeat her at a major. That fact further underlines the difference between her formal status in the draw and the actual quality she has shown in New York. The Chinese player is not a typical qualifier reaching the closing stages of a major tournament for the first time, but a player with a Grand Slam final, an Olympic title and experience among the world's top four.
Change after Toronto and the toughest training block of her career
After her round-of-16 victory, Zheng also explained what had changed ahead of the US Open. According to the WTA, after her defeat in qualifying at the tournament in Toronto, she and coach Pere Riba concluded that there was no point continuing without a major change. Instead of playing in Cincinnati, Zheng went to Bradenton, Florida, and completed an intensive training block at IMG Academy. She described that period as the toughest training block she had completed with Riba, and the goal was to reconnect the parts of her game that she believed were still there but that, after the injury, she had been unable to bring onto the court at the same time.
The results in New York so far suggest that the decision was beneficial. Zheng found competitive rhythm in qualifying, and in the main draw she repeatedly demonstrated an ability to stay in matches even when the score looked almost hopeless. After her quarterfinal qualification, the WTA stated that she had already secured at least 430 points because she was not defending any points at this year's US Open from 2025, when she did not compete because of injury. That means that, regardless of the result of her next match, she will make a significant step toward returning to positions more consistent with her results at the biggest tournaments.
Quarterfinal against Elena Rybakina
The next obstacle will be second seed Elena Rybakina. According to the US Open draw and WTA data, Rybakina convincingly defeated Naomi Osaka 6:1, 6:4 in the round of 16 and reached the quarterfinals in New York for the first time in her career. The Kazakh player enters that match as one of the most successful players of the season and as an opponent who relies on a powerful serve and extremely aggressive first strikes. After her victory over Osaka, the WTA reported that Rybakina would secure the world No. 1 ranking after the US Open with a victory over Zheng, giving the quarterfinal added significance beyond the battle for a place in the last four.
Zheng and Rybakina have already met during 2026. In Doha, Rybakina won 4:6, 6:2, 7:5 after two hours and 27 minutes, and in Madrid she prevailed again after three sets, 4:6, 6:4, 6:3. Those results show that Zheng can compete evenly with the second seed, but also that to advance to the semifinals she will have to maintain a high level throughout the entire match. After everything she has been through in New York, from qualifying and saving a match point to the comeback against Świątek, the quarterfinal no longer looks like an unexpected excursion but rather the continuation of one of the most interesting comebacks of this year's tournament.
Return to the elite takes on a new dimension
Regardless of the outcome of the quarterfinal, the victory over Świątek has already changed the tone of Zheng's season. Just a few weeks ago she was trying to find her form after a long layoff and a defeat in qualifying, while now she is once again among the final eight at one of the four biggest tournaments. Her story in New York combines several elements rarely seen together in a single Grand Slam run: a former world No. 4 playing as a qualifier, a comeback after surgery, two sets won after trailing 0:5 against Grand Slam champions and a victory over one of the most decorated players of recent years. That is why her result carries broader significance than the simple fact that she has reached the quarterfinals.
For Świątek, the defeat is a reminder of how quickly a match at the highest level can change, even after an almost perfect start. For Zheng, meanwhile, the victory is proof that she is once again capable of competing with the best when she is physically ready and able to impose her aggressive game. She arrived in New York as the world No. 121 who had to seek a place in the main tournament through qualifying; less than two weeks later she is among the eight remaining players and once again at the center of the world's tennis attention. The road toward the closing stages of the tournament now goes through Rybakina, but it is already clear that at the 2026 US Open Zheng has once again shown the level that placed her at the very top of women's tennis before her injury.
Sources:
- US Open - official report on Zheng Qinwen's victory over Iga Świątek and her qualification for the quarterfinals (link)
- US Open - Iga Świątek's reaction after the defeat and the context of her 5:0 lead in the first set (link)
- US Open - overview of Zheng's comeback, qualifying campaign, injury and path to the quarterfinals (link)
- WTA - statistics from the Zheng - Świątek match and key data on the qualifier's victory (link)
- WTA - analysis of Zheng's training block, return from injury and WTA ranking position (link)
- WTA - report on Elena Rybakina's victory over Naomi Osaka and the context of the quarterfinal against Zheng (link)