Zheng Qinwen advances to US Open quarterfinals, ousts last year's runner-up

Zheng Qinwen routed last years US Open runnerup Ons Jabeur 62 64 on Monday to move into the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for her deepest run ever in a Grand Slam tournamentZheng who is seeded No 23 becomes the first Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open since Wang Qiang in 2019 She did it by overpowering the fifthseeded Tunisian with an aggressive baseline game that produced 21 winnersAlso Read Switzerland Tourism felicitates Neeraj ChopraI feel just super happy and excited to play in a big stadium and have a really good performance today the 20yearold Zheng told the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowdFor Jabeur who committed 33 unforced errors and has appeared ill at times during her US Open run it was a disappointing finish after reaching the finals of three of the last five Grand Slam events including the last two WimbledonsZhengs win mean three of last years four US Open singles finalists are gone leaving only secondseeded Aryna Sabalenka a Belarussian who will take over the No 1 spot in the WTA rankings because of the fourthround loss by No 1 seed Iga SwiatekZheng will play the winner of the match later between Sabalenka and No 13 Daria Kasatkina That will give Zheng the chance to play for more history to equal the best runs ever by Chinese players at the US Open semifinals appearances by Peng Shuai in 2014 and Li Na in 2013Earlier Carlos Alcaraz had little trouble beating unseeded Matteo Arnaldi 63 63 64 to reach the quarterfinals the third time in as many appearances hes gotten at least that far at Flushing MeadowsThe No 1seeded Alcaraz who is seeking to defend his title after winning Wimbledon in July said afterward that he now prefers hard courts over any other surface and also likes playing under the Arthur Ashe Stadium roof He enjoyed both against the 61stranked Arnaldi an Italian who proved little match for Alcarazs power which produced 31 winnersBy advancing to the round of eight the 20yearold Spaniard became the youngest player to reach three US Open quarterfinals in the open era that dates to 1968 and the only player other than Andre Agassi to do so before turning 21Alcaraz next faces the winner of the night match on Ashe between sixthseeded Jannik Sinner and No 12seeded Alexander ZverevEighthseeded Andrey Rublev of Russia slugged his way past Jack Draper of Britain 63 36 63 64 to advance to his fourth US Open quarterfinals and the ninth Grand Slam quarterfinals of his career He will await the winner of the match later between thirdseeded Daniil Medvedev the 2021 US Open champion and 13thseeded Alex de MinaurEarlier Madison Keys overpowered fellow American Jessica Pegula 61 63 in just over an hour to book her spot in the quarterfinalsKeys the No 17 seed and 2017 runnerup at Flushing Meadows converted on 7737 of her firstserve points and used powerful ground strokes to keep rallies short a little over three strokes on average to make quick work of her thirdseeded opponent and close friendFor Pegula it marked yet another Grand Slam disappointment She has advanced to the quarterfinals in each major tournament but has yet to reach the final fourKeys quarterfinals opponent will be ninthseeded Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic who came back to beat unseeded American Peyton Stearns 67 3 63 62 to keep her dream alive of a second straight Grand Slam title after winning WimbledonI actually didnt expect it after Wimby there was a lot of pressure Vondrousova said in her postmatch interview Lets see what happens nextThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever