Zheng Qinwen Overcomes Slow Start to Dominate U.S. Open

China's Zheng Qinwen quickly dispatched unseeded German Jule Niemeier 6-2 6-1 in the U.S. Open, marking her first straight-sets victory in this tournament. Zheng's win sets up a fourth-round match with Croatian Donna Vekic, who she previously defeated in the Olympic final. Niemeier struggled with a foot injury, resulting in numerous faults.

China's Zheng Qinwen demonstrated her dominance by swiftly overcoming unseeded German Jule Niemeier 6-2 6-1 in the U.S. Open on Friday. Zheng, who is the 7th seed and an Olympic gold medalist, served eight aces and converted five break points on the Grandstand hard court, achieving her first straight-sets victory in this year's final major.

Niemeier, battling a foot injury, struggled with five double faults and managed to hold serve in just three games, wrapping up the match in a quick one hour and 21 minutes. Zheng displayed precision from the onset, launching two aces to start the second game and breaking Niemeier's serve in the fifth, which incited passionate cheers of 'jiayou' from Chinese fans.

A powerful cross-court forehand from Zheng secured a second service break, as Niemeier faltered with a forehand return into the net. Zheng then won seven consecutive points to open the second set and easily cruised to victory. This win avenged her previous third-round loss to Niemeier at the 2022 U.S. Open and set the stage for a fourth-round match against Croatian Donna Vekic, whom she defeated in the Olympic final earlier this month.

'Finally, it's the first match I won in two sets... It's not easy for me to play after the Olympic Games,' Zheng said. Vekic, triumphant over American Peyton Stearns 7-5 6-4, expressed optimism about her chances on New York's hardcourts after their recent match on clay at the Paris Games. 'She played an unbelievable match in Paris. But it's a new match. We're a couple of weeks later, and it's a different surface, thankfully for me,' Vekic commented.

(With inputs from agencies.)