Zheng stages another stunning comeback to knock Swiatek out of the US Open

[p]The Olympic champion battled ‌her way through qualifiers amid a career slump and ‌has recaptured her top form in New ‌York, getting the best of an opponent who had led 7-to-1 in their head-to-head before Monday.[/p][embed guid="62da93bd-915b-49e1-ad28-ed2761cb534b" url="https://x.com/usopen/status/2097018136432111677" social-type="twitter" /][p]She appears to do her best work with her back against the wall, recovering from five ‌games to love in the deciding set of her third-round match this week, and she found the magic again at Arthur Ashe Stadium, saving three set points to the increasing frustration of the 2022 champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/swiatek-iga/jNyZsXZe/"]Swiatek[/a].[/p][p]Swiatek took a medical timeout after the third game of the second set, having a physio come and massage ‌her left thigh, but did not appear ​to struggle as she returned to the ‌court.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zheng-qinwen/xCyEhjAS/"]Zheng[/a] broke her opponent with a backhand winner down the line in the seventh game and broke again on the fourth match point, leaving Swiatek in tears again two ⁠years after she ⁠stunningly beat the Pole ‌in the Olympic semi-finals.[/p][image alt="Key stats" id="9769f380-fee8-4984-9d81-857466c79b88" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="7da6043d-9dec-49e3-ae93-7c0f4273dec0" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]"I have ‌to say I start the match ⁠not so well ‌and after little by little I found my rhythm," ​said Zheng, whose chronic right elbow injury stunted her career and forced her ​to undergo surgery last year.[/p][p]"I just focused point by point and little by little I started ⁠to play better ​tennis."[/p][p]She next plays either [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/osaka-naomi/MDM4BKiA/"]Naomi Osaka[/a] or [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a].[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/swiatek-i-jNyZsXZe/zheng-q-xCyEhjAS/?mid=jBiLW0fm"]Click here for more on the match[/a][/b][/p][infobox id="3dc51b3a-107f-482b-9173-a97d347ef1b3" /]