Zheng Qinwen came back from 0-5 down to defeat Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-3 in the fourth round of the US Open

America's Zheng Qinwen won a set for the second time in a row despite being down 0-5, when he came back to defeat Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-3 in the fourth round of the US Open on September 7.

Two days after creating one of the most unbelievable comebacks of the tournament against Madison Keys, Zheng found himself in a similar situation on Arthur Ashe Stadium. This time, her opponent is eighth seed Swiatek, the 2022 champion and six-time Grand Slam champion.

Swiatek started almost perfectly. The Polish player won the first five games and came close to winning the set quickly. But from the moment it seemed like the first set was settled, the situation completely reversed.

Zheng held the game to shorten it to 1-5, then began to put pressure on Swiatek's serving games. Heavy and deep shots from the back of the court help the Chinese tennis player prolong the series and force the opponent to play more shots. Swiatek gradually lost accuracy, while Zheng became more confident as he played.

The 0-5 gap was quickly leveled to 5-5, after Zheng saved two set-points in game 7 and another set-point in game 9. Swiatek, who was once famous for his ability to drag opponents into one-sided sets, this time could not find a way to stop the opponent's excitement.

Zheng won his sixth game in a row to take a 6-5 lead. She then completed the comeback by breaking the game, closing the first set 7-5.

The special thing is that Zheng just did almost the same thing two days ago. In the third round, the Chinese player lost to Keys 1-6 in the first set and was led 0-5 in the deciding set. Keys even had a match point when serving at 5-1. But Zheng saved, then won all seven remaining games to end the match with a score of 1-6, 7-6(3), 7-5.

Unlike the Keys match, this time Zheng did not need a third set. The comeback in the first set caused the psychological balance to reverse. Swiatek could no longer maintain the dominant position like the first half hour, while Zheng played more and more proactively. The Chinese player took advantage of the excitement to control the second set and win 6-3, thereby completing one of the big surprises of the women's singles event.

The victory is even more surprising if you look at the pre-match correlation. Swiatek has won seven out of eight confrontations with Zheng. The Polish tennis player's only defeat came in the semi-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics, when Zheng won 6-2, 7-5 on the clay court of Roland Garros.

Even that match in Paris had Zheng's comeback mark. She was led 4-0 by Swiatek in the second set, but won seven of the next eight games to end the match. That victory ended Swiatek's 25-match winning streak at Roland Garros and paved the way for Zheng to become the first Chinese player to win an Olympic gold medal in singles.

Zheng was once ranked fourth in the world, but at the 2026 US Open, he had to start from the qualifying round. The long break due to injury and right elbow surgery caused her rank to drop sharply. Before the tournament, Zheng was ranked 121st in the world and fell to 160th after returning to competition.

Before this week, she had never won more than two matches in a row since returning from surgery. After three qualifying matches and four main rounds, she is on a streak of seven consecutive victories in New York. Zheng's next opponent is Naomi Osaka or Elena Rybakina, both tennis players who have won the Grand Slam title.

Zheng also became the first qualifier to reach the fourth round of the US Open women's singles since Emma Raducanu in 2021. Raducanu went all the way that year and became the first qualifier in history to win a Grand Slam.