Back in the swing of things

Storming through the qualifiers into the quarterfinals in New York, Zheng Qinwen has swung her way back into the elite ranks of women's tennis with a scintillating US Open run, reviving her game just in time for a string of upcoming home tournaments in China.

Zheng Qinwen hits a return during the women's singles quarterfinal between Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and Zheng Qinwen of China at the 2026 US Open tennis championships in New York, the United States, Sept. 9, 2026. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Despite a narrow defeat to second seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in a thrilling quarterfinal clash, China's currently 121st-ranked Zheng has every reason to leave New York as proud as a winner, after capping off her most successful campaign at any tournament this year since coming back from a long injury layoff in February.

Her seven straight victories over the past fortnight, including three in qualifying rounds and two upset wins against major-champion opponents, have proved Zheng has recovered her pace and strength on court, confirming that the former world No 4, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on her right elbow last summer, is fit and healthy again and set to pick up where she left off on the WTA Tour.

"The wins I had so far for sure are great," Zheng said after losing to Rybakina 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 14 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium in what was their sixth career meeting since 2022. "Obviously today in the match I had a lot of chances in the third set, but I didn't take them. That was a big pity for me."

As showed during the match, particularly when Zheng had a break point leading 4-3 in the third set, which was later saved by Rybakina, the gap between the resurgent Chinese ace and the very best in the game has significantly narrowed, giving Zheng encouragement — if any was needed — that she is getting back to her best.

"I think the good thing is I know how to compete better than the beginning of the year," said Zheng, who fell to No 160 in June and hadn't won over two matches in a row at any tournaments before arriving in New York.

"In the beginning of the year, I had totally lost the tournament rhythm, and obviously this tournament has helped me find it little by little.

"In general (reflecting on the whole US Open journey), I can take some positive things from it, and then I can go back and look at what I can do better in future tournaments," said the 23-year-old who won China's first tennis singles Olympic gold medal in Paris in 2024, the best year of her career till her elbow injury put any further progress on hold.

Zheng's run to the last eight in Flushing Meadows included a remarkable rally against 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys, who held a 5-0 lead in the third set only for Zheng to win the last seven games and pull off a huge 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 upset over the home favorite in the third round.

She repeated the epic comeback in the next round, overcoming another 0-5 deficit in the first set against Iga Swiatek before sending the six-time major champion packing in tears after a 7-5, 6-3 round-of-16 win.

With a quarterfinal run this week matching her previous best at the US Open (2023, 2024), Zheng is guaranteed to break into the top 60 on Monday, just in time for the WTA Tour's "China Swing", where the home star is expected to fire up her fans at the 2026 Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, before returning to Beijing for the WTA1000 China Open.

Scheduled to face Italy in a quarterfinal tie on Sept 24 at the Cup, the world women's national team tournament, host China will need its leading ace Zheng to stay red-hot in its challenge against the two-time defending champion squad at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center.

Zheng will then fight for her own sake in Beijing having already secured a main-draw entry at the China Open as a wildcard, before a possible appearance at another 1000 tournament in Wuhan, capital of her home province Hubei.

"I'm always so excited to play in China," said Zheng, who made a brief return at last year's China Open, before having to retire from her second-round encounter with reigning Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova due to a recurrence of her elbow injury.

"Playing at home I'm always more motivated, but at the same time I also carry some pressure, because I really want to do well here," said Zheng, who won her career-first hard-court WTA title on home soil in Zhengzhou in 2023.

"I just want to keep calm and train day by day, focus on the present and take it match by match."