Zheng beats Vekic again in Olympic rematch

Zheng Qinwen, of China

Zheng Qinwen beat Donna Vekic in a rematch of their Olympic final, advancing to the U.S. Open quarterfinals with a 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-2 victory early yesterday in the latest finish of a women’s match in tournament history.

It was 2:15 a.m. when the No. 7-seeded Zheng finished off the match that lasted 2 hours, 50 minutes, a far tougher and longer test than she got 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 wasn’t quite as dominant on the U.S. Open’s hard courts, where Vekic feels much more comfortable than the clay at Roland Garros.

But Zheng is plenty tough to beat herself on hard courts, having reached her first Grand Slam final this year at the Australian Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka.

“I feel really proud of myself because it’s not easy changing surfaces from clay to hard, especially because I went back to China so I don’t have the same practice like all the other players,” Zheng said. “So basically, I’m just trying to hold myself, find a way to get the match even if I’m not feeling at my best.”

She will play again against Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed who also beat Zheng last year in the quarters at Flushing Meadows on her way to the final, today.

Zheng said she’ll be ready — as long as she got eight or nine hours of sleep after finally getting back to the hotel.

“I really like to play against her and I’m looking forward to playing against her,” Zheng said. “I know she’s one of the greatest players on hard courts and I’ve been hoping for this moment.”

Vekic was coming off her best result in a Grand Slam, reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon. But the No. 24 seed knew she missed a chance to go even deeper in Flushing Meadows.

She frequently took long pauses in frustration after missing a shot, occasionally tugging at her hair or resting her head in her hand.

The Croatian broke Zheng to win the second set and even the match, driving 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 straight unforced errors and Zheng broke her. Zheng then broke again at love for a 5-2 lead in front of the sparse crowd that had stuck around past 2 a.m.

The previous latest finish for a women’s match was 2:13 a.m., when Maria Sakkari beat Bianca Andreescu in a 2021 fourth-round match. BRIAN MAHONEY, MDT/AP