Iga Swiatek admitted she allowed Zheng Qinwen back into their US Open fourth-round clash after surrendering a 5-0 lead in a stunning defeat at Flushing Meadows.
The 2022 champion appeared firmly in control after racing ahead in the opening set, but Zheng produced a remarkable turnaround to win 7-5, 6-3 and reach the quarterfinals.
Swiatek had been in strong form heading into the tournament and was hoping to make another deep run in New York. Instead, her campaign ended in a match that slipped away after she had looked set to take the opening set comfortably.
The Polish star acknowledged that her own mistakes played a major role in the turnaround. Rather than pointing to nerves or a loss of focus, she said she simply began missing too many shots while Zheng raised her level.
“I felt like I started missing too many shots, she started playing, and I let her back into the match,” Swiatek said.
Swiatek said she tried to make adjustments after Zheng began finding her rhythm, but nothing worked consistently enough to stop the momentum from shifting.
“I knew I was going to have another chance, and I wanted to use it, but I missed them all,” she added.
Zheng took full advantage of the opportunity. After falling 0-5 behind, the Chinese player won seven consecutive games to take the first set, showing remarkable composure against one of the tournament’s leading contenders.
The comeback was particularly impressive given Swiatek’s previous dominance in their head-to-head meetings. The Pole had won seven of their previous eight encounters before their meeting in New York.
Zheng carried that momentum into the second set and continued to put pressure on Swiatek, who struggled to regain the consistency she had shown at the start of the match.
The defeat also ends Swiatek’s hopes of adding another Grand Slam title in 2026. She won the French Open earlier in her career and captured the US Open crown in 2022, but will now finish this year without another major trophy.
For Zheng, the victory marks another major comeback during her run in New York. She had also recovered from 0-5 down against Madison Keys in the previous round, making her latest turnaround even more remarkable.
Zheng will now face Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals, with a place in the last four at stake.
For Swiatek, the loss leaves her to reflect on a match that appeared to be firmly in her hands before the momentum suddenly changed. While she rejected the idea that nerves were the main reason for the defeat, she acknowledged that her inability to stop the errors gave Zheng the opening she needed.
“I wanted to play the same as always,” Swiatek said. “Just started to miss too much.”
Zheng made sure those mistakes proved costly, turning a seemingly lost opening set into one of the biggest comebacks of the tournament.
