Zheng is the queen of comebacks

Qinwen Zheng rises from the ashes. The Chinese player, unjustly punished by injuries, seems to have found her level, the one that took her to the Australian Open final and placed her in the 4th place in the WTA ranking. After dropping out of the Top 100 and going through the qualifying rounds of the US Open, she is already in the quarter-finals after pulling off two epic comebacks. First against Madison Keys and today against Iga Swiatek (7-5, 6-3). She came back from 5-0 down against both players.

Zheng needed a result like this after her elbow injury that required surgery in July 2025; she returned a few months ago, but neither she nor her tennis resembled the one that made her one of the best players in the world. However, it has been in New York where, little by little and match by match, she has been rediscovering her game, though not without challenges along the way. In fact, all her previous matches have gone to three sets.

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This was Qinwen Zheng's second consecutive comeback at the US Open

But above all, with the memory of her victory against Madison Keys, where she came back from 5-0 down in the third set. It seemed like something unrepeatable; however, she did it again against Swiatek. The Polish player started strong at the Arthur Ashe and, in the blink of an eye, specifically in 20 minutes, established a 5-0 lead. It seemed like the Chinese player had not yet entered the court, but quietly, she began to close the gap, saving three set points along the way.

The self-belief? Extraordinary.

After starting the match 0-5 down in 20 minutes, Zheng Qinwen takes out Swiatek 7-5, 6-3! pic.twitter.com/WHUGzShzrV

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2026

Zheng had already warmed up, and Swiatek's wall completely crumbled. She lost seven consecutive games and conceded a first set (7-5) that she had practically won. In fact, the outcome of the first set determined the match, as the 2022 champion could not recover, and the Asian player began to show her best form.

Things became even more complicated for Swiatek because she suffered discomfort in her left leg at the start of the second set. It was at that moment when Zheng sensed blood and struck decisively with a break. Swiatek's student, Francis Roig, had a chance to get back into the match with two break points that she failed to convert, and the Chinese player never lifted her foot off the accelerator. She broke for the second time to claim victory (7-5, 6-3) and return to the US Open quarter-finals for the third time in her career (2023, 2024).

Now Qinwen Zheng, who has climbed a total of 69 places in the WTA ranking to 52nd, is already thinking of surpassing the quarter-finals barrier for the first time at the US Open against Elena Rybakina or Naomi Osaka. Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek concludes her first year since 2021 without winning a Grand Slam.
 

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Zheng es la reina de las remontadas