Iga Swiatek crashes out of US Open against Qinwen Zheng after epic collapse
Iga Swiatek was bounced out of the US Open’s Round of 16 on Monday, collapsing after winning the first five games to suffer an upset loss to China’s Qinwen Zheng.
Zheng, a 7-5, 6-3 victor, is onto the quarterfinals after getting throough qualifying while Swiatek — the 2022 champion here — will be left scratching her head.
Though Zheng, a former major finalist and the 2024 Olympic gold winner, is no pushover, this all looked quite straightforward as Swiatek dominated the early stages.
She jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set and had set points at 5-1 and 5-3, failing to convert both while Zheng gained momentum and confidence.
After losing the first set and taking a 2-1 lead in the second, Swiatek called for a medical timeout, and seemed to have her left leg worked on.
For a brief moment that settled her, and the Pole was up two break points on Zheng at three-all. Zheng staved both off — both on her second serve — to win the game, then promptly broke Swiatek.
That seemed to take the life out of Swiatek.
Zheng, who was in the WTA’s top five in 2024, when she made the Australian Open final before injuries derailed her 2025 season and left her on the tour’s fringes this year, announced to the world that she is back at her best with this win.
She fell to the ground in triumph upon Swiatek hitting the ball into the net to end the match at the fourth time of asking.
Swiatek was already waiting for a handshake, hoping to get out of Arthur Ashe Stadium as fast as possible.