Madison Keys‘ roller-coaster 2026 U.S. Open resulted in devastating vogue.
After mounting a shocking rally by staving off 5 match factors in a second-round win over Anna Bondar, Keys was on the opposite finish of a serious collapse in Saturday’s third-round loss to Qinwen Zheng.
Keys took the primary set in a breeze, breaking Zheng’s remaining two serves to win 6-1. After dropping a second-set tiebreaker, Keys had 97 % odds of advancing, according to IBM Watson, when serving for the match up 5-1 within the third, solely to lose the purpose on an unforced error.
Zheng proceeded to win the subsequent 5 video games for a shocking 1-6, 7-6, 7-5 win, advancing to the fourth spherical of a grand slam for the sixth time of her profession and first since 2025 Roland-Garros.
Madison Keys experiences dizzying highs and lows in back-to-back rounds at U.S. Open
Keys, a 2017 U.S. Open finalist, suffered a wild swing in fortune with the loss, which got here one spherical after defeating Bondar in a third-set tiebreak. The 2025 Australian Open champion averted elimination in that one regardless of going through 5 match factors. At one juncture, her odds of reaching the third spherical sat as little as three %.
As thrilling as that win was, Saturday’s defeat is simply as demoralizing. It additionally marks a 3rd consecutive truncated run on the U.S. Open for Keys, who final reached the second week in New York in 2023 when advancing to the semifinals, the place she misplaced to Aryna Sabalenka. Final yr, Keys, 31, misplaced within the opening spherical, which adopted a 3rd spherical exit in 2024.
Afterward, Zheng spoke in regards to the comeback and famous the parallels to Keys’ final match. “I do know … she additionally did that, turned the match round,” Zheng mentioned whereas praising her counterpart.
“I’ve to say Madison performed superb,” Zheng, the Paris 2024 Olympic gold medalist, mentioned. “I do not really feel like she acquired as much as 5-0 as a result of I performed so dangerous. I simply assume she performed superb.”
