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yesterday afternoon beijing time, zheng qinwen defeated vikic 7-6(2) 4-6 6-2 in the fourth round of the us open, reaching the women's singles quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.

the match started at 11:20 am beijing time yesterday and ended at around 2:15 pm yesterday after nearly three hours of fierce fighting. this time period is very friendly to chinese fans because the match started close to the morning get off work end time. i watched the live broadcast of the match yesterday during my lunch break.

but for new york fans, this time period was very difficult, because the game started at 11:20 p.m. local time and ended at 2:15 a.m. the next day. both the audience and zheng qinwen had to work late into the night for this game.

zheng qinwen's match set the record for the latest ending time of a women's match at the us open. the last latest women's match ended at 2:13 in the morning, when sakkari defeated andreescu in the fourth round in 2021.

it is worth mentioning that sabalenka's third-round match against alexandrova two days ago did not start until 12:08 midnight local time, which set a record for the latest start of the us open. fortunately, sabalenka defeated her opponent in just 1 hour and 40 minutes.

the night match ended too late, which attracted the attention of the retired british player murray. he posted on social media and @ the four grand slams and itf, saying, "the tennis schedule is a mess. playing and watching games at two or three in the morning is too amateurish."

murray has a deeper understanding of night matches. his second-round match against kokkinakis at last year's australian open ended at 4:05 a.m. local time. murray said after the match that such an arrangement is not good for anyone. "if my children were ball boys participating in the competition and they went home at five in the morning, as a parent, i would be dissatisfied with it. it is also not good for referees and tournament officials. i don't think it is a great thing for the fans. it is even worse for the players."

since the start of this year's us open, many players have expressed dissatisfaction with the late game, but zheng qinwen said after the game yesterday that he has gotten used to it. "usually i am asleep at this time. but when i was in palermo, the game started very late, and i usually went to bed at three or four in the morning. i think i have reached a level now. no matter when i go to bed, i can get 8-9 hours of sleep. thank you to the fans who stayed up late to support me tonight."

after entering the quarterfinals, zheng qinwen's next opponent will be no. 2 seed sabalenka. previously, the two had played against each other twice, with sabalenka defeating zheng qinwen in straight sets in the 2023 us open quarterfinals and the 2024 australian open final.

looking ahead to the upcoming matches, zheng qinwen said: "i feel pretty good. i really like playing against her and i am looking forward to it. i know she is one of the best players on hard courts and i have been looking forward to this moment for a long time. if you want to be the best player, you have to climb all kinds of mountains, and she is one of the mountains in front of me at the moment."

li na's coach carlos also said something similar. the famous argentine coach told li na during the 2011 winter training that serena williams, sharapova and azarenka are your lifelong enemies. you have to beat them on the court, but the biggest opponent you have to beat is yourself. one month later, li na won her second grand slam title at the australian open.

in contrast, the 21-year-old zheng qinwen has the cognition and state of mind of the 32-year-old li na. zheng qinwen's words above show her attitude of not fearing difficulties and her determination to climb to the top. she has also expressed her desire to play against the strongest players many times before, because frequent competition with strong players proves that she has the strength to enter the deep rounds, and only by playing against strong players can she train and improve herself.

looking back at this year's australian open, zheng qinwen did not encounter any seeded players on her way to the finals, and was defeated by the powerful sabalenka in the final. because of her good luck in the draw, zheng qinwen was considered by some netizens to have "sucked into a grand slam runner-up."

after winning the olympic gold medal, zheng qinwen has undergone a transformation. she encountered a "tough draw" in advance at the us open and replicated her victory in the olympic final in the fourth round. in the quarterfinals, she will face the no. 2 seed and this year's biggest favorite to win the championship, sabalenka.

this match is scheduled to be the first night match at arthur ashe stadium tomorrow, and is expected to start at 7pm local time tomorrow (7am beijing time tomorrow). the latest odds are sabalenka 1.28, zheng qinwen 3.75. the bookmakers are more optimistic about sabalenka's victory, but we have strong expectations for zheng qinwen, hoping that she can overcome sabalenka and realize her dream of winning the grand slam championship soon! (author: yunjuanyunshu)