Zheng makes history as youngest Chinese Grand Slam quarterfinalist

China’s 20-year-old emerging prodigy Zheng Qinwen continued to captivate the tennis connoisseurs at the U.S. Open on Monday, defying the odds to topple the fifth seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-2, 6-4 and becoming the youngest Chinese player in the Open Era to reach a quarterfinal at a Grand Slam event. 

Notably, the encounter between these two players had taken place only once before, specifically in Toronto in 2022. However, Jabeur’s aspirations were thwarted by abdominal pain, leading to her early retirement in the second set after Zheng had comfortably secured the first set with an impressive margin of 6-1. 

This time around in Flushing Meadows, the first set was again dominated by Zheng, who flawlessly executed all five of her net approaches in the initial frame. With remarkable finesse, she swiftly established a commanding double-break lead at 4-1 and successfully averted a break point in the final game of the set, solidifying her well-deserved one-set advantage.

Zheng kept the momentum going in the second set and constructed a substantial lead, surging ahead to a 5-2 advantage. However, the No. 23 seed’s initial attempt to serve out the match met with a temporary setback, and she encountered a missed match point at 5-3.  

Undeterred, in her subsequent opportunity to seal the victory, Zheng required three additional match points and finally concluded the contest, securing her most brilliant Grand Slam performance to date. 

“Right now, I feel just super happy and excited to play in a big stadium and have a really good performance,” observed Zheng after her breakthrough. “Ons [Jabeur] is a fantastic player and really tough to beat, and she has a lot of variation in her game.  

“I know my game has to be aggressive. A couple of times during the match I was a little bit defensive, and she broke me. I told myself I had to take the match into my own hands… That was a really impressive win for me today.” 

This sensational upset marks Zheng’s fourth triumph over a top 10 player in her fledgling career and her first at a Grand Slam event. Previously, her last victory against a top 10 opponent occurred in February at Abu Dhabi, where she overcame the then world No. 8, Daria Kasatkina of Russia.  

Zheng is the sixth singles player from the Chinese mainland to reach Grand Slam quarters. One must cast their memory back to the 2019 U.S. Open for the last instance of a Chinese competitor reaching the last eight of a Grand Slam singles event. It was none other than the talented Wang Qiang who achieved this remarkable feat.

Zheng has been experiencing a formidable surge in her performance, thanks to the invaluable guidance of her new coach, Wim Fissette. In July, she outclassed local favorite Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 in the final of the Palermo Ladies Open in Italy, becoming the 12th player from the Chinese mainland to win a WTA singles title and cracking the top 20 for the first time.

She was named the 2022 Newcomer of the Year by WTA after an incredible run at the French Open, where she stunned two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep and French No. 1 Alize Cornet en route to the last 16.

Zheng’s mettle will face a more rigorous examination as awaiting her in the last eight is the second seed and new world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. The two-time U.S. Open semifinalist knocked out 13th seed Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 14 minutes later in the day. It will be their first ever meeting.