US Open: Olympic gold medallist Zheng moves into 2nd round

Paris Olympics champion Zheng Qinwen rallied from a set down to beat Amanda Anisimova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Monday and reach the second round of the US Open.

China’s Zheng, seeded seventh, next faces Erika Andreeva of Russia, who beat China’s Yuan Yue 6-3, 7-6 (9/7).

“Obviously she’s hitting the ball really good today,” Zheng said of Anisimova, who is on the upswing since returning from a mental health break in January — when she was ranked 373rd in the world. A run to the final at Toronto this month saw her return to the top 50 and gain a wild card invitation into the main draw.

“Every ball (from Anisimova) went inside in the beginning and I couldn’t do anything,” Zheng said. “More as the match goes, I started to find my rhythm on hard court. Little by little I started to get into the rhythm.”

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Zheng, who finished runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open in January, has said she didn’t want the same let-down that followed that performance happen in the wake of her groundbreaking Paris Games triumph.

Asked on court about her run to gold — which made her China’s first Olympic tennis singles champion — she was gracious but already looking forward.

“I’m happy what I did in the past, but right now I just want to focus on what I do here,” said Zheng, who could face Sabalenka again in the quarterfinals.