Chin-Won Jeong advances to the US Open round of 16 after returning from injury... kiss comeback win

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Ahn Hong-seok = Jeong Chin-won (121st place, China), who returned from injury, produced a remarkable performance and advanced to the round of 16 of the 2026 US Open Tennis Tournament (total prize money of $108 million).

Chin-Won Jeong defeated Madison Keys (24th, USA) 2-1 (1-6 7-6 <7-3> 7-5) in the third round of the women's singles on the 7th day of the tournament held at Flushing Meadows in New York, USA on the 5th (local time).

When last year's Australian Open champion Keys took the first set in 23 minutes, it seemed like victory was in full swing.

However, Chung Chin-won, the 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist, won the second set after a tie-break, and in the third set, he was pushed down with a game score of 0-5 and even gave up the opportunity to lose the match point, but won seven games to turn the game around.

This is the first time that Chung Chin-won has reached the round of 16 of a major tournament since the French Open (quarterfinals) last year.

It is even more valuable because it was achieved after overcoming an elbow injury.

Chin-Won Jeong had a brilliant 2024. He finished runner-up at the Australian Open, won the Paris Olympics, reached the quarterfinals of the US Open, and ranked 4th in the world rankings.

But the upward trend did not last long. It was discovered that he had a chronic injury with bone fragments moving around in his elbow, and he had to go on the operating table in July of last year.

At this year's French Open, where she returned after 9 months, she shed tears at the press conference after losing to Maya Hwalinska (22nd, Poland) and being eliminated in the first round.

The ranking fell to 160th, and at this US Open, the preliminary round of a major tournament had to be held for the first time in four years.

Chin-won Jeong said, “I even cried when I won the third round of the preliminary round,” and said, “I think luck was finally on my side today. I just kept telling myself not to give up, and little by little, that happened.”

In the men's singles, where surprises continue to occur, another 'scapegoat' emerged. 10th place Taylor Fritz (USA) and 6th place Flavio Coboli (Italy) were eliminated in the third round.

Fritz lost to Francisco Cerundolo (25th, Argentina) 2-3 (6-3 6-4 3-6 4-6 4-6).

This was an even more unexpected result because Cerundolo had been on a three-game losing streak prior to this tournament.

"I don't know how it happened today. I don't want to talk to anyone for days, I don't want to see anyone," said Fritz, the 2024 U.S. Open runner-up.

Koboli lost to Alexander Blox (34th place, Belgium) 1-3 (7-6<7-4> 3-6 0-6 3-6).

Koboli, who was having his best year this year by finishing second at the French Open and reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, was put on hold in his bid to advance to the Men's Professional Tennis (ATP) Tour Finals for the first time in his career with this loss.

Blox is the first player to reach the main stage of a major tournament at this year's Australian Open.

By reaching the semifinals at the Madrid Masters last April, he raised his ranking from around 100th place, and was seeded (No. 28) for the first time to participate in a major tournament.

In the first week of opening, 6 of the 10 men's singles top seeds were eliminated. Previously, Novak Djokovic (No. 4, No. 5, Serbia), Arthur Pis (No. 10, No. 11, France), Felix Auger-Aliassime (No. 3, No. 4, Canada), and Alex Diminor (No. 6, No. 7, Australia) packed their bags one after another.