NEW YORK — Qinwen Zheng defeated 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 in the latest finish to a women's match in tournament history.
It was 2:15 a.m. when Zheng, seeded No. 7, finished the match that lasted 2 hours and 50 minutes, a much tougher and longer test than the one she received 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 was not as dominant on the hard courts of the US Open, where Vekic is much more comfortable than on the clay of Roland Garros.
But Zheng is still very 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 very proud of myself because it's not easy to change from clay to hard surface, especially since I came back to China so I don't have the same practice as the rest of the players,” Zheng said. “So basically I'm trying to control myself, find a way to win the match even if I don't feel at my best.”
She will play Sabalenka again, the No. 2 seed who also beat Zheng in last year's quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows on her way to the final, on Tuesday.
Zheng said she will be ready as long as she can sleep for eight or nine hours after finally returning to the hotel.
“I really enjoy playing against her and I'm looking forward to it,” Zheng said of Sabalenka. “I know she's one of the best players on hard courts and I've been waiting for this moment.”
Vekic was coming off her best Grand Slam result, reaching the semi-finals at Wimbledon. But the 24th seed knew she had missed the chance to go even further at Flushing Meadows.
He often took long pauses in frustration after missing a shot, occasionally pulling at his hair or resting his head on his hand.
The Croatian player broke Zheng's serve to win the second set and level the match, pushing 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 consecutive unforced errors and Zheng broke him. Zheng then broke him again at love to go 5-2 up in front of the sparse crowd that had stayed there past 2 a.m.
The last final result for a women's match was at 2:13 a.m., when Maria Sakkari beat Bianca Andreescu in a 2021 fourth-round match.
