NEW YORK — Qinwen Zheng beat Donna Vekic in a rematch of their Olympic final, advancing to the US Open quarterfinals with a 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-2 victory early Monday morning in the latest finish of a women’s match in tournament history.
It was 2:15 a.m. when the No. 7-seeded Zheng finished off the match that lasted 2 hours, 50 minutes, a far tougher and longer test than she got from Vekic last month in Paris.
Zheng won China’s first singles gold in tennis with a 6-2, 6-3 victory that day. She wasn’t quite as dominant on the US Open’s hard courts, where Vekic feels much more comfortable than the clay at Roland Garros.
But Zheng is still plenty tough to beat on hard courts, having reached her first Grand Slam final this year at the Australian Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka.
“I feel really proud of myself because it’s not easy changing surfaces from clay to hard, especially because I went back to China, so I don’t have the same practice like all the other players,” Zheng said. “So, basically, I’m just trying to hold myself, find a way to get the match, even if I’m not feeling at my best.”
She will play again against Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed who also beat Zheng last year in the quarters at Flushing Meadows on her way to the final, on Tuesday.
Zheng said she’ll be ready — as long as she gets eight or nine hours of sleep after finally getting back to the hotel.
“I really like to play against her, and I’m looking forward to playing against her,” Zheng said of Sabalenka. “I know she’s one of the greatest players on hard courts, and I’ve been hoping for this moment.”
Vekic was coming off her best result in a Grand Slam, reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon. But the No. 24 seed knew she missed a chance to go even deeper at Flushing Meadows.
She frequently took long pauses in frustration after missing a shot, occasionally tugging at her hair or resting her head in her hand.
The Croatian player broke Zheng to win the second set and even the match, driving Zheng back with some blistering returns before using a perfect drop shot to give herself a set point.
But after an ace to open the third set, Vekic made two straight unforced errors, and Zheng broke her. Zheng then broke again at love for a 5-2 lead in front of the sparse crowd that had stuck around past 2 a.m.
The previous latest finish for a women’s match was 2:13 a.m., when Maria Sakkari beat Bianca Andreescu in a 2021 fourth-round match.
