Un-be-lie-vable: From 0-5 and a match point down, Zheng wins the last seven games againt Keys
Madison Keys led 5-0 in the deciding set, served for the match twice and had a match point, and lost the last seven games to Zheng Qinwen. Two days earlier she had saved five match points from 2-5 down to beat Anna Bondar. The Chinese qualifier, back from elbow surgery, is into the second week of a major for the first time in over a year.
Qinwen Zheng, US Open 2026 | © AP Photo/Heather Khalifa/SIPA
Madison Keys led 5-0 in the deciding set, served for the match twice and held a match point in her third round match at the US Open. She lost 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5 to Zheng Qinwen, a former Grand Slam finalist and now a qualifier ranked No. 121, who won the last seven games of the match to reach the fourth round of the US Open.
She plays the winner between Iga Swiatek, the No. 8 seed and the 2022 champion, and Czech No. 25 seed Marie Bouzkova.
Keys had taken the opening set in 25 minutes for the loss of one game. She was broken once in the second, at 4-3, broke straight back and lost the tiebreak 7-3. Then she went 5-0 up in the third.
Zheng held for 5-1. Keys served for the match at 5-1 and lost it, having held a match point. Zheng held again from deuce. Keys served for it a second time at 5-3 and lost it to 15. Zheng held for 5-4, broke again at 5-5, and served out the match at the first opportunity.
The Chinise is is the first qualifier to reach the second week of the US Open since Emma Raducanu, who won the trophy in 2021
Keys: Two days, two deciding sets, opposite outcomes
The symmetry with her previous match is almost exact. On Thursday, Keys was 2-5 down in the deciding set against Anna Bondar and saved five match points to win 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (5). On Saturday she led 5-0 and lost. The 2025 Australian Open champion and 2017 runner-up here had also come through 7-5, 6-4 against 19-year-old Alina Korneeva in the first round, saving a match point in that one too.
“I have to say Madison played amazing. I don’t feel like she got up to 5-0 because I played so bad, I just think she played amazing,” Qinwen Zheng said afterwards. “I kept telling myself, keep holding every single point. Never give up. Stay there. And somehow little by little it just happened. Finally one time a bit of luck is on my side.”
She had noticed the symmetry too. “I know in the last match she also did that, turned the match around. It’s not bad, I also did that once as well,” Zheng said. “This is the first time I turned it around from 0-5. Usually before it’s always 1-5 or 2-5. It was a very dramatic match for me, but we both showed really strong tennis. Thank you to the crowd who came to support us today. Doesn’t matter if you supported Madi or me.”
Asked whether she is close to her best again, she went back to the elbow. “After the surgery wasn’t easy. It felt like I lost my energy on the tennis court. I’ve been through really tough times these three, four, five months,” Zheng said. “Luckily, thanks to my team, we’ve been working really hard at the IMG Academy after Toronto. The hard work pays off finally a bit. I never give up during the match. That’s the positive thing right now.”
Zheng’s route back has been longer than her ranking suggests. The 2024 Australian Open finalist and Olympic champion had elbow surgery in July 2025, and this is her first second week at a Grand Slam in more than a year. She came into this tournament through qualifying, and has now won five matches in New York.
She beat Russian qualifier Kristina Liutova 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 and Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in the opening rounds, dropping the first set in both, as she did again here.
US Open 2026, WOmen’s singles, round 3
A. Sabalenka [1] d. K. Rakhimova: 6-3, 6-4
T. Townsend d. D. Shnaider [15]: 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3
M. Kostyuk [11] d. E. Alexandrova [18]: 6-3, 6-2
L. Noskova [6] d. A. Li [29]: 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-2
J. Pegula [3] d. L. Fernandez [31]: 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
S. Cirstea [16] d. J. Paolini [19]: 6-3, 6-3
A. Kalinskaya [21] d. E. Svitolina [9]: 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
E. Navarro [26] d. K. Muchova [7]: 6-3, 7-5
M. Andreeva [5] vs N. Bartunkova – not played
A. Potapova [24] vs A. Anisimova [10]: 6-2, 7-5
I. Jovic [14] vs A. Eala [17] – not played
C. Bucsa vs C. Gauff [4] – not played
I. Swiatek [8] vs M. Bouzkova [25] – not played
Q. Zheng (Q) d. M. Keys [22] – 1-6, 7-6(3), 7-5
N. Osaka [13] vs E. Mertens [23] – not played
Y. Starodubtseva vs E. Rybakina [2] – not played
