Zheng Qinwen defeats Donna Vekic in last US Open women’s match finish

Zheng Qinwen defeated Croatia’s Donna Vekic 7-6(2) 4-6 6-2 in a rematch of their Olympic title clash in Paris to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open after the two battled it out for the title in the last women’s title decider in the tournament’s history.

The thrilling match at Arthur Ashe Stadium concluded at 2:15 a.m. on Monday, smashing the previous record for a women’s match in the final Grand Slam of the year by two minutes.

“It’s always fun to play in the night session because I’m used to it… It’s the first time I’m playing at 2am here in New York. It’s incredible,” Zheng said.

“Thank you to the fans who are not sleeping tonight and are here supporting me.”

China’s Zheng is hoping to become the fourth woman to win Olympic gold and the US Open title in the same year, after Serena Williams (2012), Venus Williams (2000) and Steffi Graf (1988). She will now face second seed Aryna Sabalenka.

The 21-year-old, who lost to Sabalenka in the Australian Open final, sealed an intense opening set against 24th-seeded Vekic in an hour after raising her game in the tiebreak. Undeterred, Vekic responded with the first break of the match early in the second set but immediately dropped her serve as Zheng piled on the pressure on her 28-year-old opponent with a series of heavy drives from both sides. Zheng’s service game briefly let her down when Vekic broke with a backhand winner in the 10th game to level the match, but the Chinese player got a head start in the deciding set and held her nerve to secure victory.

“It’s really difficult to play with her on hard court, she puts a lot of pressure on me,” added Zheng, who beat Vekic in three sets in the Olympic final.

“At Roland Garros I was in control. But today she hit really aggressively. It was difficult for me to play against her… It was a very nice victory for me.”