Key events
“Any sign of a dramatic Zheng comeback? No, is the short answer” – me, 35 minutes ago. I was wrong, and Zheng moves on to a last-16 meeting with either Iga Swiatek or Maria Bouzkova, who are up next on Grandstand.
“I always believed [I could win], I just kept fighting,” says Zheng, who found serving at 5-4 down the toughest moment. She talks about her injury layoff – “the worst few months of my career” – and says “hard work has paid off” for her and her team.
Zheng roars back to beat Keys 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5!
On second serve, Keys looks to clip the line with a cross-court shot … but misses. Zheng Qinwen has won from 5-0 down, breaking Keys’ serve three times in a row and saving a match point at 5-1 down. She looks elated, Keys can’t wait to get out of there. How on earth did she lose that match?
From 5-0 down, Zheng is serving for the match. Will the pressure pendulum swing? Keys edges ahead with some nimble net work, but can’t keep her forehand down with Zheng now feeling the heat. Match point Zheng …
Flavio Cobolli has sped out of the blocks against, er, Alexander Blockx – the Italian leads 4-2 in the first set. But we’re staying on the Grandstand for now …
Zheng breaks Keys again! Madison Keys makes a better start here, the first serve speeding up, but Qinwen Zheng is locked in, turning the rallies in her favour – and when Keys misses a desperate effort down the line, she breaks again. Three in a row, six games in a row, and now she’ll serve for the match.
It’s five games in a row for Zheng as she controls her service game – and now Keys must serve again at 5-5. Zheng was ranked world No 4 just over a year ago, but is currently No 121 after a run of injury problems – and had to qualify for this tournament.
Over on Stadium 17, No 5 seed Mirra Andreeva has taken an early break against Nikola Bartunkova, who is unseeded but ranked 34th in the world, so not far off.
The nerves are all too obvious from Keys, whose first serve slows to a crawl as she slides 0-40 down. Keys saves the first break point, but eventually goes long and Zheng is 5-4 down, back on serve and back in the game.
Zheng moves 40-0 up and has Keys throwing her arms up in frustration – but the American rallies to deuce, only for Zheng to grind out the hold. Keys will serve for the match again, and the pressure’s on …
Taylor Fritz is trying to wrap up the second set against Francisco Cerundolo, and despite making hard work of it, the American eventually gets it done and now leads 6-3, 6-4.
Zheng, who held serve at 5-0 down to keep this alive, defends a match point and then clinches the break with a punchy volley. Maybe the comeback is on after all …
Thanks, Katy. Any sign of a dramatic Zheng comeback? No, is the short answer. Keys has moved 5-1 up in the decider, and is serving for the match …
Fritz already has a break in the second set, leading 6-3, 4-2, while Keys has suddenly turned into first set Keys and is 6-1, 6-7, 3-0 ahead. Make that 4-0, as Zheng surrenders the double break – and likely the match – with a trio of forehand misses from 40-30. With that, I’m off for a breather, so Niall is here to guide you through the finale …
Next up on Louis Armstrong: Flavio Cobolli v Alexander Blockx.
“I’m the happiest person out here, except maybe my coach,” says the 25-year-old Potapova. “I’m still in the process of learning but I’m not scared of anything. I’m super excited for the next one.” She’s then asked about previously saying she knows the name of every store on Fifth Avenue. Will she treat herself now she’s guaranteed at least $480,000 for reaching the last 16? No, she’s got the tennis to focus on first, she sensibly says. Next up for her will be Mirra Andreeva or Nikola Bartunkova.
Potapova (24) defeats Anisimova (10) 6-2, 7-5
… and this time Potapova is able to deliver the knockout blow, when on match point, at 40-30, a long rally ends in her favour as Anisimova whacks long! Potapova is into the fourth round of the US Open for the first time and Anisimova, the 10th seed, has been unable to repeat last year’s run to the final. Her 46 unforced errors to Potapova’s 17 go a long way to explaining that. And the result means she’ll lose her place in the world’s top 10 to Marta Kostyuk.
Fritz seals a 6-3 first set against Cerundolo – though the biggest drama right now is not on Arthur Ashe but Louis Armstrong, where a third successive break leaves Anisimova on the ropes again, at 2-6, 5-6 …
Anisimova, from 3-2 and 4-3 up in the second set, is suddenly broken amid a flurry of errors – two backhands, one forehand and a volley for good measure – and she’s a game from defeat at 2-6, 4-5. But nothing in this set has been remotely straightforward for either server – and Potapova promptly falls 0-40 down. She saves the first two break points with b2b aces, but can’t repeat the trick on the third. Anisimova survives for 2-6, 5-5.
The first five points of the breaker go the way of the server … until Zheng nails a forehand winner down the line off Keys’s drop shot! Zheng has a 4-2 lead at the change of ends … Keys takes the next point with a winner into pretty much exactly the same spot as Zheng’s landed … but Zheng still has the advantage and extends that to 5-3 and then 6-3 with two big serves. Zheng has three set points … and Keys hits beyond the baseline! That was a flawless tie-break from the Olympic champion and they’re going to a third. It’s Keys 6-1, 6-7 (3) Zheng.
Keys holds. Zheng holds. It means Keys is serving to stay in the second set at 5-6. There were some really strong quotes from Keys after the first round, when she spoke about how intensely nervous she felt before the match, especially as a home player. It was interesting to hear how the nerves can affect even last year’s Australian Open champion. But there’s no sign of any now, as she holds to 15. So it’s tie-break time.
Fritz, after conceding only two games in the previous round, has dropped two in six games today. Crisis! He leads Cerundolo 4-2.
Keys, Zheng and Anisimova are all wearing very similar turquoise Nike outfits. Which is making things slightly confusing, it has to be said. Almost as confusing as keeping up with the Anisimova v Potapova scoreline, after a fourth successive break. Anisimova eventually snaps the streak with a hold, and she’s 3-2 up in the second set. Can she build on this?
What of Keys v Zheng, you say? Well after a very cagey second set, Zheng strikes in game eight – as Keys clunks an errant forehand and coughs up a double fault from deuce. It leaves Zheng serving to level the match at 5-3 – but a meek second serve gets the treatment it deserves at 30-all and Keys has break point. And the break is retrieved after some more heavy hitting from the American! It’s Keys 6-1, 4-5 Zheng.
Now it’s three consecutive breaks at the start of the second. Anisimova has held serve only twice in the match – and now trails 6-2, 2-1.
Finally Anisimova gets a break against Potapova – though she needed a double fault from the Austrian on break point to do it – and all it does is get her level in the second set, because she was broken in the previous game. So it’s Anisimova 2-6, 1-1 Potapova.
Fritz’s problem this season has been staying fit – but when he’s healthy, he’s a serious contender, shown by his hard-court title in Washington DC last month. He’s also got the experience of going deep in New York, having reached the final two years ago. But he is in a fairly loaded quarter of the draw, which includes Flavio Cobolli and Jakub Mensik.
Fritz, having flown through his previous match for the loss of only two games, for the most emphatic win of his grand slam career, has carried on where he left off, and he already leads Cerundolo, this summer’s Queen’s champion, 3-0.
Anisimova surrenders another break – she’s 0-7 on break points and Potapova 2-4, which is the story of the first set, along with the 19 unforced errors that Anisimova has hit – and Potapova is, unexpectedly, serving for the opener. And Potapova takes it on her fourth set point, 6-2, when Anisimova’s return loops long! Last year’s runner-up has got plenty to tidy up in her game if she’s to turn this match around.
Tumaini Carayol
Here’s Tumaini’s report on that match:
In the end, after so much toil and admirable fight, defeat came swiftly for one of the greatest doubles teams to ever share a tennis court. Upon their return to prime time in New York, Venus and Serena Williams fought desperately to overturn the various deficits they found themselves in over three hours inside a thunderous Arthur Ashe Stadium.
They came close. The Williams sisters had clawed their way back into the match after trailing a 1-4 in their final set against Chan Hao-ching and Maya Joint, and they established a 5-0 lead in the third set tie-break. Just as they appeared to be on the verge of victory, they were brushed aside, losing 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (7) in the first round of the US Open.
This was one of the few times in recent tennis history where a player’s doubles appearance seemed far more important than their singles contributions. While the 44-year-old Serena had opted out of taking a singles wildcard for the US Open after suffering a knee injury during her singles comeback at Wimbledon in July against Joint, the 46-year-old Venus lost in the singles first round here to Sofia Kenin, her 15th consecutive singles loss. No matter, from the moment it became clear that the Williams sisters were aiming to compete alongside each other in doubles again, this was the match that people wanted to see.
Before this summer, when the Williams sisters finally rejoined forces at the Cincinnati Open, losing in a tight first round battle, the last time Venus and Serena had competed together was here in 2022, supposedly Serena’s final tournament. Serena had been extremely impressive in her mixed doubles appearance alongside Carlos Alcaraz this year, who she had even outperformed for a large part of her matches. Here, perhaps under the additional pressure alongside her sister, the four years of rust was still visible on Serena’s game as she struggled badly throughout the match.
A week after cracking 120mph aces on pressure points, Serena had so many troubles with her serve that, by the final set, she had been reduced to simply rolling in her first serve and she similarly struggled to land any returns. Venus, meanwhile, was often the best player on the court, but the pair paid for her failure to put away key volleys deep in the match.
Regardless, the Williams sisters fought desperately for three hours, produced numerous moments of brilliance and nearly defeated the 14th seed team in the draw. They were eventually outplayed by a solid pairing in Joint, a top 30 doubles player, and the former world No 5 and Wimbledon finalist Chan. The Australian-Taiwanese pair were at times overwhelmed by the increasingly intense crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium and their indefatigable opponents. But in the decisive moments deep in the final set tie-break they handled business as they should, absorbing the Williams sisters’ first strike while tidying up around the net.
You can read the rest here:
Last night Serena and Venus Williams – with their combined age of 456 – blew a five-point lead in the deciding tie-break as their return to the grand slam doubles stage ended in defeat, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (7) against Chan Hao-ching and Maya Joint. Serena must be sick of the sight of Joint – given her singles comeback was also halted by the Australian in the Wimbledon first round this summer – but having come so close to victory in both matches, she may well be encouraged enough to continue. Serena and Venus chose not to do a post-match media conference last night – so it’s not clear what their next plans are.
A big cheer on Grandstand – despite the fact Zheng is facing an American – as she holds at the start of the second set. Anisimova is still a break down, 3-2, against Potapova, while Taylor Fritz – the pick of the American men in the first week – is warming up on Arthur Ashe against Francisco Cerundolo, the 24th seed from Argentina.
And after my talking-up of Zheng’s chances … she’s 5-1 down in 20 minutes. A messy fourth game, including two double faults, surrendered the first break – and the second came when she was broken to love. So Keys, having survived those five match points against her in round two, is making the most of her second life, serving for the set … and the 2017 runner-up closes it out emphatically, to 15. Perhaps all the matches Zheng has played to get to this point are now catching up with her.
Anisimova, one of the purest and most powerful hitters in the women’s game, is pushing hard on Potapova’s serve at 0-40, and despite being dragged back to deuce, she has another three break points … of which she takes absolutely none. And then she’s swiftly broken to love. She’ll be kicking herself. She could be 2-1 up with the break but instead finds herself 2-1 down.
So what of their opponents today? Zheng has greater momentum than Keys coming into the third round. The former world No 4 has won five consecutive matches after coming through qualifying – her world ranking is currently No 121 as she works her way back after elbow surgery last year – and the last time she won five on the spin she claimed the Olympic singles title for China in 2024.
Potapova, meanwhile, the 24th seed, is looking to reach the US Open fourth round for the first time. She gained headlines at the end of last year when she announced she’d switched her allegiance from Russia to Austria, having basically hit copy and paste on the statement her former compatriot Daria Kasatkina made when she started representing Australia last year. As our tennis correspondent Tumaini Carayol explains:
To the bemusement of Kasatkina herself, Potapova changed just two words of Kasatkina’s original before publishing the statement as her own: Australia to Austria and Melbourne to Vienna. Potapova was unapologetic about her lack of originality: “I don’t find anything wrong with that because you cannot say it in a better way. And why not? And, yeah, it was perfect words. I loved it. We loved it with my team, with everyone.”
Keys and Anisimova both start with a hold, but while Keys comes through the opening game reasonably comfortably, to 30, Anisimova has to save two break points at 15-40 before edging through from deuce.
“It’s so wide open,” says Martina Navratilova on Sky Sports about the women’s draw, and I’m in total agreement with her – though I’m not sure even if I did disagree that I’d have the gumption to argue with Martina. Sabalenka, Gauff, Rybakina, Andreeva, Swiatek, Pegula, Anisimova … you really could take your pick. And that’s without even mentioning the Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, the two-time US Open winner Naomi Osaka, the ever-improving Marta Kostyuk and the rising Iva Jovic and Alexandra Eala. I think this year is too soon for Jovic and Eala – especially as the winner of their match later could face Gauff in the last 16 – but the strength and depth at the top of women’s game is seriously impressive.
The sun is out and two Americans, Amanda Anisimova and Madison Keys, will get this Labor Day weekend under way at Flushing Meadows. Anisimova, last year’s finalist at the US Open and Wimbledon, plays the Russian-born Austrian Anastasia Potapova on Louis Armstrong, while Keys, after her great escape in round two, where she saved five match points, faces the 2024 Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen on Grandstand.
Order of play – day session
11am start (4pm BST) unless stated
Arthur Ashe Stadium 11.30am New York/4.30pm BST
Taylor Fritz (USA, 9) v Francisco Cerundolo (Arg, 24)
Cristina Busca (Sp) v Coco Gauff (USA, 4)
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Anastasia Potapova (Aut, 24) v Amanda Anisimova (USA, 10)
Alexander Blockx (Bel, 28) v Flavio Cobolli (It, 5)
Grandstand
Madison Keys (USA, 22) v Zheng Qinwen (Chn)
Iga Swiatek (Pol, 8) v Marie Bouzkova (Cze, 25)
Michael Zheng (USA) v Arthur Gea (Fr)
Yuliia Starodubtseva (Ukr) v Elena Rybakina (Kaz, 2)
Stadium 17
Leylah Fernandez (Can) and Janice Tjen (Ina) v Erin Routliffe (NZ, 9) and Aldila Sutjiadi (Ina, 9)
Mirra Andreeva (5) v Nikola Bartunkova (Cze)
Karen Khachanov v Benjamin Bonzi (Fr)
Zizou Bergs (Bel, 31) v Botic van de Zandschulp (Ned)
Court 5
Marcelo Demoliner (Bra) and Ray Ho (Tpe) v Nathaniel Lammons (USA) and Jackson Withrow (USA)
Arthur Reymond (Fr) and Luca Sanchez (Fr) v Christian Harrison (USA, 5) and Neal Skupski (GB, 5)
Luciano Darderi (It, 21) v Dane Sweeny (Aus)
Court 6
Ingrid Neel (Est) and Giuliana Olmos (Mex) v Ena Shibahara (Jp) and Lanlana Tararudee (Tha)
Luke Johnson (GB) and Jan Zielinski (Pol) v Marcelo Arevalo (Esa, 3) and Mate Pavic (Cros, 3)
Court 7
Hendrik Jebens (Ger) and Miguel Reyes-Varela (Mex) v Marcel Granollers (Sp, 2) and Horacio Zeballos (Arg, 2)
Maja Chwalinska (Pol) and Magda Linette (Pol) v Anna Bondar (Hun) and Anhelina Kalinina (Ukr)
Daniel Milavsky (USA) and Braden Shick (USA) v Francisco Cabral (Por, 16) and JJ Tracy (USA, 16)
Andrey Golubev (Kaz) and Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Kaz) v Adam Pavlasek (Cze) and Patrik Rikl (Cze)
Court 10
Ellen Perez (Aus, 10) and Demi Schuurs (Ned, 10) v Elena Pridankina and Tang Qianhui (Chn)
Finn Reynolds (NZ) and James Watt (NZ) v Guido Andreozzi (Arg, 7) and Manuel Guinard (Fr, 7)
Arthur Fery (GB) and Joshua Paris (GB) v Tomas Martin Etcheverry (Arg) and Camilo Ugo Carabelli (Arg)
Court 11
Ryan Seggerman (USA) and Patrik Trhac (USA) v Yuki Bhambri (Ind) and Michael Venus (NZ)
Katerina Siniakova (Cze, 1) and Taylor Townsend (USA, 1) v Wang Xiyu (Chn) and Xu Yifan (Chn)
Moyuka Uchijima (Jp) and Wang Xinyu (Chn) v Robin Montgomery (USA) and Ashlyn Krueger (USA)
Sara Errani (It) and Lilli Tagger (Aut) v Gabriela Dabrowski (Can, 2) and Luisa Stefani (Bra, 2)
Luciano Darderi (It) and Mariano Kestelboim (Arg) v Julian Cash (GB, 9) and Lloyd Glasspool (GB, 9)
Court 12
Filip Pieczonka (Pol) and Bart Stevens (Ned) v Austin Krajicek (USA, 15) and Nikola Mektic (Cro, 15)
Alexander Bublik (Kaz) and Shang Juncheng (Can) v Sebastian Baez (Arg) and Fabian Marozsan (Hun)
Magali Kempen (Bel) and Alexandra Panova v Storm Hunter (Aus, 13) and Desiree Krawczyk (USA, 13)
Jenson Brooksby (USA) and Marcos Giron (USA) v Mac Kiger (USA) and Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA)
Benjamin Bonzi (Fr) and Arthur Rinderknech (Fr) v Theo Arribage (Fr, 10) and Albano Olivetti (Fr, 10)
Court 13
Yannik Alvarez (Pur) and Noah Johnston (USA) v Jakob Schnaitter (Ger) and Mark Wallner (Ger)
Sadio Doumbia (Fr, 11) and Fabien Reboul (Fr, 11) v David Stevenson (GB) and Marcus Willis (GB)
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the US Open 2026 – day seven! I can’t believe we’re nearly at the halfway stage already, with the top takeaways so far (along with the $100 caviar-topped chicken nuggets) being that:
Zverev is on the night shift again on day seven, scheduled second on Arthur Ashe in the evening session, after Alexandra Eala v Iva Jovic offers us a tantalising glimpse into the future of women’s tennis – but our focus is on the day session, with Fritz, Gauff, Swiatek, Rybakina and Andreeva all in action, along with Amanda Anisimova, Madison Keys, Flavio Cobolli, the rising American Michael Zheng, Australia’s sole survivor Dane Sweeny and the vanquisher of Felix Auger-Aliassime, Karen Khachanov.
Play gets under way: at 11am local time/4pm BST. Don’t go anywhere!
