Qing Qinwen defeats Madison Keys in the US Open tennis tournament after coming back from a 5-0 deficit

Chinese Cheng Qinwen succeeded in coming back from a 5-0 deficit in the deciding set to beat American Madison Keys 1-6, 7-6, 7-5 in the third round of the US Open Tennis Championship, on Saturday, while she is struggling to recover from a chronic right elbow injury that has hampered her career.

The Olympic champion was forced to compete in the qualifiers only two years after she reached the quarter-finals for the second time, in light of a decline in her career that forced her to undergo surgery last year, and she fell on the field in joy after the victory.

Keys, ranked 22nd, made an amazing comeback in the second round when she saved five match points against Anna Bondar, but luck was not on her side this time, as she squandered her lead and let the victory slip from her hands in the final moments of the match.

In the next round, Zheng will face either Iga Švūntek, winner of six major titles, or Czech Marie Bouzkova, who will face each other later on Saturday.

“Finally, I got a little lucky,” Cheng said. I am very happy, and I know that she made a strong comeback in the last match as well. “It was a very exciting match for me, but we both gave a very strong performance.”

Cheng lost her serve with a double fault in the fourth game, and Keys broke her serve without giving her any points in the penultimate game of the first set, as the American seemed on her way to winning easily.

But Cheng turned the tables in the second set, fighting back in the tiebreak before clinching the set with a powerful winner from the baseline.

Keys pressed hard in the third set, but Zheng was able to stop her momentum, saving a match point in the seventh game before getting a break of serve with a decisive forehand.

Keys' nerves began to collapse from that moment, as errors piled up on her before she lost the match at match point with a kick that went slightly outside the court.