US Open 2026: emotions run high at Flushing Meadows

There’s a Rudyard Kipling line at Wimbledon’s Centre Court that reads: “If you can meet with triumph and disaster / And treat those two impostors just the same”.

But how can one do that? It seems impossible!

An athlete laying bare all their emotions is one of the most compelling things about sport. In tennis, it’s arguably the thing that draws you in the most and when it happens, you walk away from a match with so much respect for both the victor and the defeated. They both tried, they both battled, and they both showed you how much they really care.

On Saturday at the US Open, Zheng Qinwen pulled off a remarkable comeback, rallying from 0-5 down in the decider to defeat Madison Keys 1-6, 7-6(3), 7-5 and advance to the fourth round.

Zheng, who saved a match point en route to victory, instantly fell on her back in celebration. The Chinese Olympic champion has had a rough road back from elbow surgery. She was ranked in the top 5 a little over a year ago but dropped to as low as 160 in the world this season and had to contest the qualifying rounds in New York to earn her place in the main draw.

Since her return to the tour last February, Zheng struggled to find her inner fire and competitive spirit during matches, and arrived at Flushing Meadows searching for her first Grand Slam match-win of the year.

Of the six matches she has played so far through qualifying and the main draw at the US Open, four have been three-setters; it’s fair to say Zheng has found that spark she’s been looking for and her reaction after completing that inconceivable comeback against Keys said it all.

“After coming back from injury, it is true, it's been a while. I didn't compete, so I felt I lose those energy, I forgot how to compete. I played many matches here from the quallie. I have a lot of emotions when I'm playing the quallie match,” Zheng said on Saturday.

“I was even crying after I won the third match reaching to the main the draw, and you know, main draw is just the beginning where all the players start. Also, that was just my beginning before.

“So I fight so hard just to start like everyone else. For me, that was really not easy. For today, after coming back from 0-5, the first things in that moment I thought, ‘Please, I don't want to be beaten 6-0. I just want to win one game in that moment’. After the dynamic start to came and I felt better on court, I felt, like, I can see the tennis better. Then I felt I have a lot of energy on myself. I can just keep pushing, keep fighting. At the end when I won the match, it's, like, wow, that's incredible. Finally, one time the luck is on my side because all these three, four months I have been suffering a lot.”

For Madison Keys, the loss was bigger than just one result. She said an issue has been building withing her for a while now and it is finally time to address it.

The 2025 Australian Open champion gave a raw and honest press conference after her defeat to Zheng, and didn’t shy away from expressing her emotions.

“I feel like I obviously got off to a really good lead, and then I just got really scared, like I couldn't swing. I don't know. Tennis just feels really hard right now, so I feel like that kind of took over,” said a tearful Keys.

“At the end, I think she started playing better; I started playing poorly. Then I felt like I couldn't play tennis anymore, and it just was… it just felt like it was a much bigger deal than just playing a tennis match all of a sudden.

“I think it's been something that's been building for a while. I just kind of keep pushing it off and pushing it off just because that's how the tennis world works. It's just to the point where I actually need to do something about it.”

The 31-year-old Keys has always been open about the mental challenges of the sport and she managed to overcome them many times in the past, including last year when she became a Grand Slam champion. She will no doubt safely navigate this difficult period, just as she has done before.

On Sunday, it was Zheng’s turn to shake off her demons; her turn to get that tough win she so desperately needed to prove to herself she can make it back to the top.

One match spawned two divergent paths. But those paths won’t stay apart for too long.

“Tennis sometimes feels like a roller coaster,” said Zheng.

That’s certainly how it felt on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday, where Iva Jovic survived a three-hour marathon against her good friend Alexandra Eala and another improbable comeback was orchestrated by Francisco Cerundolo.

The Argentine 24th seed battled back from two-sets-to-love down to upset former finalist and No.9 seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Fritz entered the match carrying a 10-1 record on US soil since July and was bidding to reach the fourth round of the US Open for a fourth consecutive year. Cerundolo, on the other hand, was playing in the third round in New York for the first time and was 1-5 against top-10 players this season.

After losing the opening two sets and dropping serve in the first game of the third, Cerundolo dug deep to claim a win from two sets down for just the second time in his career. His initial celebration was somewhat subdued out of respect for Fritz, but after they shared an embrace at the net, Cerundolo couldn’t hide his joy as his team went wild in the box.

“I'm super happy, to be honest,” he later said in his press conference.  

“Playing my first match on Ashe, being down two sets to zero, playing against Taylor, a top-10 guy, made final here. He always performed really good here. He was playing an amazing tennis.

“Being able to come back from that match is fantastic for me. I'm super proud of myself.”