New York, United States
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen said her tame US Open quarter-final exit was caused by a sleepless night following the record late finish to her previous match, but predicted she will be "prime time" when she gets back to China.
Zheng was back on court Tuesday evening to face world number two Aryna Sabalenka having played until 2:15 am on Monday to complete her last-16 victory over Donna Vekic.
The 21-year-old Zheng said she only got to bed at 5:00 am and was unable to practice on Monday.
"I couldn't sleep after I finished the match at 2:30 in the morning. I'm not able to practice yesterday because I was feeling terrible. I couldn't wake up," said Zheng after her 6-1, 6-2 loss to Sabalenka.
"Sometimes the schedule is like this. If I hit some balls yesterday maybe it would help for the match today, but it's fine."
Zheng was defeated by Sabalenka at the same stage of the US Open in 2023 and came off second best again to the Belarusian in the Australian Open final in January.
Now the Chinese star heads home for the Asian swing, where she hopes her rising profile will mean more favourable match schedules, especially when the WTA stops off in Wuhan in October.
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Fritz stuns Zverev
Taylor Fritz won a big-hitting battle with Alexander Zverev to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open on Tuesday.
The 12th-seeded Fritz came through against the fourth-seeded 2020 runner-up 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) and will face either American compatriot Frances Tiafoe or Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria for a place in Sunday's final.
Zverev's defeat means world number one Jannik Sinner is the only top-four player left in the draw following the shock early exits of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
"I have had a few looks at Grand Slam quarter-finals over the years so I felt it was my turn to take a step further," said the 26-year-old Fritz who cracked 12 aces amongst his 45 winners.
"I've always had a big serve but at the top of the game it comes back a lot more.
"So I've tried to add more to my game with drop shots, coming to the net to back up the serve."