China's Zheng falls to Sabalenka in US Open quarterfinals

WASHINGTON -- China's Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen lost to world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the US Open quarterfinals on Tuesday.

The Australian Open champion, Sabalenka, defeated Zheng 6-1, 6-2 in 73 minutes and will face Emma Navarro of the United States in the semifinals.

"I just think the next time I play against her maybe I should hold a rally better and play a little bit more relaxed. Because today obviously I entered into the match with a lot of nerves," Zheng said.

"It was important that I got the early break, that was an advantage because it's tough to face her," said Sabalenka, last year's US Open runner-up.

Sabalenka also defeated Zheng at the same stage of the 2023 US Open before winning over the 21-year-old in the 2024 Australian Open final in January.

Zheng was coming off the record late finish in a women's match in US Open history, with a three-set win over Donna Vekic in her previous match.

"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.

"Sometimes the schedule is like this. If I hit some balls yesterday maybe it would help for the match today, but it's fine," the 21-year-old added.