Zheng Qinwen becomes youngest Chinese to reach Grand Slam quarterfinals in Open Era

She is now in her first career Grand Slam quarterfinals after beating US Open 2022 finalist Ons Jabuer

China's Zheng Qinwen defeated US Open 2022 finalist Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-4 on Monday (September 4th) and secured a place in the quarterfinals of US Open 2023. With the victory, Zheng became the youngest player from China to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final in the Open Era. She also becomes the first Chinese player since Wang Qiang in 2019 to progress inside the top 8 of US Open.

Along with this, the World No. 23 is the sixth Chinese player to make it to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, joining Li Na, Zheng Jie, Peng Shuai, Zhang Shuai, and Wang Qiang.

With an aggressive baseline game that resulted in 21 victories, she defeated the fifth-seeded Tunisian to reach the quarterfinals in New York. After acquiring veteran coach Wim Fissette, Zheng, who previously had never sailed past quarterfinals, has recently been in good form. She persisted in her aggressiveness, controlling the action with her strong, flat shots, and defeating the 2022 finalist in the third game.

Then, two games later, she broke the tie with two excellent return winners (a forehand and a backhand). Jabeur managed to recover one break but was unable to hold serve once more. (At the end of the set, she would have won just 26% of her second serve points). To gain a one-set advantage, Zheng served it out on her first attempt. 

Zheng, who is just 20 years old, has already established herself as one of the best players in the WTA's incoming generation, and her performance today served as just another example of the immense potential that this young lady possesses. When playing Jabeur, a three-time Grand Slam finalist, Zheng hit the ball beautifully, taking full use of every available space on the court to keep Jabeur moving and stifle her creativity. 

The Chinese player is going to face second seed Aryna Sabalenka who is set to overtake Iga Swiatek as the top player in the WTA rankings the following week. She beat No. 13 seed Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.