WTA
New York
No.7 seed and Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen escaped the upset in a blockbuster US Open first round, coming from a set down to defeat wild card Amanda Anisimova, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Zheng, who reached her first major quarterfinal at the 2023 US Open, made a slow start, quickly falling behind 5-1. But once she found her groove on serve in the second set, she was able to take control and roll through the decider, closing out the match with an ace and a service winner.
The Olympic gold medallist has now won 13 of her 14 matches since Wimbledon.
Twelve of those comprised a winning streak on clay that included the Palermo and Paris Olympic Games titles,.
Anisimova has been one of the form players on the North American hard courts. Ranked outside the Top 100 four weeks ago – hence needing a wild card this week – her run in Toronto to her first WTA 1000 final boosted her back to her current No.50.
Zheng will next face Erika Andreeva, who held off Yuan Yue 6-3, 7-6(7). Andreeva, at a career high of No.75 after reaching her first WTA quarterfinal last week in Monterrey, saved one set point in the second-set tiebreak before hammering a forehand winner to convert her second match point.
In Zheng’s on-court interview afterwards, she admitted that she "couldn’t do anything” in the first set.
But once Zheng gained control, she finished the match with a total of 32 winners (including 12 aces) to Anisimova’s 21, and 33 unforced errors to her opponent’s 38.