Zheng Qinwen reaches US Open last 16 with 'classic comeback'

NEW YORK -- China's Zheng Qinwen bounced back from 5-0 down in the decider to overcome home player Madison Keys and reach the US Open women's singles last 16 on Saturday.

After losing the first set 6-1 with four double faults, Zheng gradually found rhythm to improve stability on serves. The two players were well-matched in the second set until the reigning Olympic champion won 7-6 (3) in the tie-breaker.

22nd-seeded Keys then felt at ease in the third set to take a 5-0 lead, but Zheng showed resilience to win seven straight games to claim a 7-5 victory.

In her sixth appearance in the Grand Slam last 16, Zheng will play against eighth seed Iga Swiatek of Poland.

"It is a very classic comeback," Zheng said. "I kept holding every single point. Somehow, little by little, it just happened. I turned [around] 0-5. This is the first time [it] happened in my career."

"It was a very tough game. At that moment, I showed no emotion. I just kept fighting. Against Maddie, you can't be too passive. I think I find the right balance at the end of the game. What I can say? Wow," the 23-year-old added.

"I obviously got off to a really good lead, and then I just got really scared, like I couldn't swing. At the end, I felt like I couldn't play tennis anymore, and it felt like it was a much bigger deal than just playing a tennis match, all of a sudden," Keys said.

Also on Saturday, China's Shang Juncheng and Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik beat Fabian Marozsan of Hungary and Argentina's Sebastian Baez 6-2, 6-4 in the men's doubles first round.

Chinese players struggled in the women's doubles second round, as Wang Xiyu and Xu Yifan lost to the top-seeded pair Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the United States 6-3, 6-4. American pair Robin Montgomery and Ashlyn Krueger saw off China's Wang Xinyu and Japan's Moyuka Uchijima 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, while China's Tang Qianhui and Russia's Elena Pridankina lost to Australia's Ellen Perez and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3.