No. 26 seed Paula Badosa came back from a set down and staved off a match point late in the third set Friday to reach the Round of 16 at the US Open for the first time.
Badosa ultimately prevailed against Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse in a third-set tiebreak 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8).
It was the second deciding-set tiebreak played on the women’s side this tournament (Ena Shibahara defeated Daria Saville in the first round).
Badosa has now reached the Round of 16 at all four majors. She is the fifth Spanish woman in the Open era to reach the fourth round at the four Slams, following Garbine Muguruza, Conchita Martínez, Carla Suarez Navarro and Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario.
No. 7 seed Qinwen Zheng, the 2024 Olympic singles gold medalist and Australian Open finalist, shook off slow starts in her first two matches and took down unseeded German Jule Niemeier 6-2, 6-1 to reach the Round of 16 for a second straight year.
“Finally, it’s the first match I won in two sets. … It’s not (been) easy for me to play after the Olympic Games,” said Zheng, who has noted previous struggles with focus after deep tournament runs. “I’m starting to find my tennis and to play better and better.”
Zheng is the second Chinese woman in the Open era to reach the Round of 16 in back-to-back US Opens, joining Li Na who did so in 2008 and 2009.
Zheng awaits the winner of Donna Vekic and Peyton Stearns, who play later Friday; Zheng defeated Vekic in the gold-medal match in Paris.
ESPN Stats & Information and Reuters contributed to this report.