Former World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was stunned by another remarkable comeback from Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng at the US Open 2026. Swiatek had raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening set but eventually suffered a 5-7, 3-6 defeat against Zheng, who became the first qualifier since Emma Raducanu in 2021 to reach the US Open quarter-finals.
Swiatek appeared to be dealing with an issue involving her left leg, which may have contributed to her collapse during the match. Zheng capitalised with an aggressive assault, overturning the huge first-set deficit before taking control of the second set and advancing to the quarter-finals. It was also the first time the Polish star had been beaten by a qualifier in the main draw of a Grand Slam.
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For Zheng, the fairytale journey continued. For the second consecutive match, she mounted an extraordinary comeback after falling 0-5 behind in a set. Against Swiatek, she won seven games in a row to dramatically take the opening set 7-5.
Remarkably, Zheng had produced an almost identical turnaround against Madison Keys on Saturday. She recovered from 0-5 down to win the set 7-5 before completing another impressive victory.
HOW THE MATCH UNFOLDED
Swiatek came into the match with a commanding head-to-head advantage over Zheng, having won seven of their previous eight encounters. Zheng's only previous victory over the Polish player came at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she won in straight sets.
That victory marked the beginning of an unforgettable Olympic campaign for Zheng, who eventually claimed the gold medal.
Zheng made a difficult start against Swiatek, struggling with a series of unforced errors as she fell behind 0-5. Her troubles were particularly evident in the fifth game, which she lost after committing a double fault followed by two more errors.
The match then changed dramatically. Zheng settled into the contest and sharply reduced her mistakes, making just two unforced errors across the next seven games. As the Chinese player raised her level, Swiatek began to struggle for control and repeatedly failed to find her targets.
Zheng carried her momentum into the second set, although Swiatek refused to give up. The world No. 8 won the opening game before Zheng responded immediately to make it 1-1.
Swiatek regained the lead by taking the third game, but an unexpected interruption followed before the next game when a trainer came onto the court to attend to her. The exact nature of Swiatek's issue was not immediately known.
She continued the match but quickly lost the next game, increasing concerns about her physical condition. Swiatek responded by winning the following game to level the set again.
Zheng, however, soon took back control. She won three games in succession to move 5-3 ahead and put herself just one game away from reaching the quarter-finals.
While serving for the match, Zheng quickly moved ahead by taking the first three points. Swiatek tried to mount another fightback but was unable to stop Zheng from closing out the set 6-3 and completing a straight-sets win.
ANDREEVA OVERCOMES POTAPOVA CHALLENGE
Fifth seed Mirra Andreeva extended her best-ever US Open campaign on Monday by coming from behind to beat Austria's Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 and reach the quarter-finals.
The Russian will next take on either Iva Jovic or Coco Gauff, who were scheduled to face each other in an all-American fourth-round match.
Andreeva struggled with consistency during a tightly fought opening set, producing more than twice as many unforced errors as Potapova. The key moment arrived in the final game when two double faults and a wayward backhand allowed Potapova to break and take the set.
The Roland Garros champion responded strongly in the second set. Andreeva cut down on her errors and performed well in shorter rallies, eventually gaining a crucial advantage when Potapova double-faulted to hand her the break in the seventh game.
Andreeva took that momentum into the deciding set, breaking early to move 2-1 ahead with strong baseline tennis.
The contest took an unfortunate turn in the ninth game when Potapova fell to the court in pain while chasing a ball along the baseline and appeared to injure her left knee. Andreeva immediately went over to check on her opponent and helped Potapova return to the bench.
Potapova spent several minutes receiving treatment, with the physio eventually taping her leg. Despite the injury, she showed determination by returning to the court to finish the match.
Andreeva ultimately secured her quarter-final berth with a backhand winner and then crossed over to share an emotional embrace with Potapova.
