Playing her first Grand Slam qualifying event in nearly half a decade, Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen advanced to the second round of US Open qualifying with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Chinese compatriot You Xiaodi in 1 hour and 28 minutes.
Zheng’s only previous experience of Grand Slam preliminary rounds came at the 2022 Australian Open, the first major event of her career. Qualifying and reaching the second round enabled her to break into the Top 100, where she remained until June this year. Last July, Zheng underwent elbow surgery; though she attempted to return in September, she managed to contest just two matches in Beijing before being sidelined until this February. In 2026, she has compiled a 12-13 record so far, and her ranking has fallen to No. 121 this week.
However, the No. 14 seed got off to a solid start against her countrywoman. You had won their only previous meeting 6-4, 6-1 — though that match, in the 2018 Nanjing W15 quarterfinals, had occurred when Zheng was 15 years old and playing in her fourth career professional tournament. Eight years on, Zheng was in charge. She conceded just three points behind her first serve, broke You at the start and end of both sets, and fired 18 winners to her opponent’s nine.
No. 205-ranked You, who is now on a seven-match losing streak dating back to June, notched some solid holds and won six out of seven points at net, but committed 19 unforced errors as she struggled to keep up with Zheng’s weight of shot.
Zheng, a two-time US Open quarterfinalist in 2023 and 2024, will next face former No. 42 Clara Burel. The Frenchwoman is also on the comeback trail — she suffered an ACL injury in April 2024 and was sidelined for the next 12 months. Now ranked No. 410, she defeated another Chinese player, Ma Ye-Xin, 6-4, 6-2.
Andreescu wins in straight sets
In the final match of the day, 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu scored a 6-1, 6-2 win over Dutchwoman Eva Vedder in 1 hour, 6 minutes. The Canadian hit 23 winners against 15 unforced errors, compared with 10 winners and 17 unforced errors for Vedder.
Since winning her first and only Grand Slam title in New York seven years ago, Andreescu has returned to the main draw three times, reaching the fourth round in 2020, the third round in 2021 and the first round two years ago. Now ranked No. 183 in the world, the 26-year-old will be hoping to qualify for her second consecutive Grand Slam main draw after coming through the qualifiers at Wimbledon.
She will next face No. 24 seed Veronika Podrez, who scored a 6-2, 0-6, 6-3 win over American Caroline Dolehide. Ranked a career-high No. 132 in the world, the Ukrainian made her Grand Slam qualifying debut at Roland Garros. In her third attempt at Grand Slam qualifying, the Rouen runner-up is still looking for her first main draw berth.
Other notable US Open first-round qualifying results
- No. 284-ranked wild card Julieta Pareja, 17, defeated American compatriot No. 9 seed Kayla Day 6-3, 6-1 — a reprise of her 7-6(5), 6-4 defeat of Day at the same stage of the competition in 2024, when Pareja was 15 years old and playing her first Grand Slam qualifying event.
- Qualifying top seed Polina Kudermetova was knocked out in the first round by Czech Linda Fruhvirtova. In a battle between two former Top 60 players, Fruhvirtova dominated to win 6-1, 6-3 in 1 hour, 7 minutes, as Kudermetova was undone by 40 unforced errors. After losing in the first round of qualifying here the past two years, the 21-year-old Czech is hoping to reach the main draw for the third time in her career. Her best performance came in 2022, when she reached the second round.
- Former junior US Open champion Robin Montgomery kicked off her qualifying campaign with an impressive 6-1, 6-1 win over Canadian Kayla Cross. The 21-year-old, who won the girls singles and doubles titles in New York five years ago, won her first WTA singles title at the 2026 Libéma Open in June. Ranked No. 484 at the time, she became the lowest-ranked woman to win a tour-level title on grass and the fifth-lowest-ranked titlist in WTA history. The victory was Montgomery’s first at the US Open, in qualifying or the main draw. She had lost in the first round of the main draw and first round of qualifying on two previous occasions each.
- Italy’s Tyra Caterina Grant advanced to the second round of qualifying with a 6-2, 6-4 win over American Savannah Broadus. The 18-year-old came through qualifying at Wimbledon and reached the second round there in June. That result, along with a WTA 125 title in Italy in June, has helped her break into the top 150 of the world rankings for the first time.
- American Madison Brengle also advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Anastasia Gasanova. The 36-year-old is playing at the US Open for the 20th time in her career and will be hoping to make her 12th appearance in the main draw, where her best result has been reaching the third round in 2015 and 2020.
- Last year’s junior champion Jeline Vandromme, seeded 26th, got off to a good start with a 6-1, 6-3 win over fellow Belgian Greet Minnen. The 18-year-old is playing in Grand Slam qualifying for the third time in her career and is hoping to make her Grand Slam main draw debut in New York.
- Alevtina Ibragimova, who made an impact on her WTA main-draw debut in Iasi last month by pushing Paula Badosa to a 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-4 second-round loss, was victorious in her Grand Slam qualifying event. The 21-year-old upset No. 15 seed and former No. 33 Rebecca Sramkova 6-2, 6-4.