At 5–0 in the deciding set, Madison Keys appeared to have survived another U.S. Open thriller. One point later, she was on the brink of the fourth round.
Then Zheng Qinwen changed the entire shape of the match.
The Chinese qualifier saved match point, broke Keys three consecutive times and swept the final seven games to complete a remarkable 1–6, 7–6(3), 7–5 victory Saturday in New York. The comeback sent Zheng into the round of 16 and turned one of the tournament’s most lopsided-looking final sets into one of its most improbable reversals.
Seven straight games erased a 5–0 deficit
Keys, the No. 22 seed and a former U.S. Open finalist, controlled the opening set. She broke Zheng with room to spare and took it 6–1, seemingly setting the terms with the first-strike tennis that has made her one of the tour’s most dangerous power players.
Zheng refused to let the match disappear. She pushed the second set into a tiebreak, won it 7–3 and forced a deciding set. Keys surged again, racing to a 5–0 lead and earning a match point in the seventh game.
That was where the comeback began. Zheng saved the match point, then landed a forehand winner to claim the first of three straight breaks of serve. With Keys pressing and errors accumulating, Zheng kept extending rallies, held her nerve at 5–4 and finally served out the match after winning seven games in a row. Reuters’ match report and the WTA’s official account confirm the score, match-point save and closing run.
“Finally one time a bit of luck is on my side,” Zheng said afterward, according to Reuters. But luck alone does not win seven straight games against a player of Keys’ quality. Zheng had to keep choosing the next shot after the scoreboard suggested the match was already gone.
Two days, two U.S. Open escape acts
The result carried an unusually sharp twist because Keys had authored the tournament’s other great escape just two days earlier.
In the second round, the American trailed Anna Bondar 5–2 in the deciding set and saved five match points before winning 5–7, 6–4, 7–6(5). That comeback made Keys the survivor. Against Zheng, she stood on the opposite side of almost the same story: a seemingly decisive lead, a match point that vanished and an opponent who would not stop believing.
The symmetry is part of what made Saturday’s match so striking. Tennis offers no protection for what happened in the previous round. Momentum can belong to one player for nearly an entire set and still reverse in a few games.
Zheng’s win carries weight beyond one match
For Zheng, this was more than a dramatic scoreline. The 2024 Olympic singles champion and former world No. 5 arrived at this U.S. Open ranked No. 121 after a chronic right-elbow problem, surgery and a difficult slide down the rankings. She had to earn her place in the main draw through qualifying—an unusual route for a player who reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals in both 2023 and 2024.
The comeback therefore doubled as evidence that her game and competitive edge are returning. Official match statistics published by Tennis.com show Zheng won despite making only 49% of her first serves, leaning instead on stronger second-serve results and late pressure in the return games.
She now advances to face six-time major champion Iga Swiatek, who later defeated Marie Bouzkova in Saturday’s third round. The challenge rises immediately, but Zheng has already survived the kind of match that can change a tournament—and perhaps a season.
A bruising day for American contenders
Keys’ exit was part of a difficult Saturday for prominent U.S. players. Amanda Anisimova lost in straight sets to Anastasia Potapova, while Taylor Fritz surrendered a two-set lead against Francisco Cerundolo. Reuters’ tournament roundup described the results as a blow to the home contingent.
Yet the day’s defining image belonged to Zheng: down 5–0, one point from defeat, and then suddenly impossible to stop.
Sources: Reuters, WTA, Tennis.com and The Guardian’s live match coverage.
