US OPEN: ZHENG QINWEN WINS PARIS OLYMPICS FINAL REMATCH IN LATEST WOMEN’S MATCH EVER

Seventh seed reached quarter-finals after beating Donna Vekic with court action finishing at 2.15am local time

Zheng Qinwen beat Donna Vekic for the second time in less than a month, although this time there was a place in the US Open quarter-finals on the line and not Olympic gold.

In the latest finish ever to a women's match at the tournament, the pair battled it out until 2.15am on Monday in New York, with the Chinese world No 7 eventually prevailing 7-6, 4-6, 6-2.

It beat the previous record set in 2021 at Flushing Meadows when Maria Sakkari completed her victory over 2019-winner Bianca Andreescu in the round of 16 at 2.13am.

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"She's really tough to play on a hard court," Zheng said after the match, which lasted two hours and 50 minutes. "Today she put a lot of pressure [on me], she hit really aggressive.

"It's two in the morning, it's incredible. Thanks to the fans who have stayed to support me."

The difference between each player was razor thin in the first set, with neither losing serve and combining for a mere 13 unforced errors through the first 12 games. But when Vekic began missing in the tight moments during the tiebreak, Zheng ran away with the set to close it by a 7-2 margin.

Despite an early trade of breaks in the second, the rest of the set played out with neither woman budging on serve. That was, until Zheng found herself staring at a backhand winner from Vekic on set point to give the Croatian the break and send the match to a third set.

An opening break for Zheng put her in the driver's seat quickly at the start of the decisive set, and as Vekic's game began to crack, a second break of serve at love gave the Olympic champion a 5-2 lead. Serving for the match on her second match point, Zheng clinched the win on a netted return from Vekic.

Zheng's triumph came just hours after reigning champion Coco Gauff suffered a surprise exit at the hands of Emma Navarro.

Up next for Zheng is world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who beat her in January's Australian Open final, and in New York last year, when the Belarusian won 6-1, 6-4 in the last eight.

Zheng is only the second Chinese woman to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open after Li Na, who did it twice, in 2009 and 2013.

Earlier, on Louis Armstrong Stadium, a back-in-form Paula Badosa beat China's Yafan Wang 6-1, 6-2, to book herself a second grand slam quarter-final appearance.

The Spanish star revealed she had contemplated retiring earlier this year after a back injury saw her miss out on competing in the second half of 2023, and drop from world No 2 to outside the top 50.

"For me, tennis doesn't make sense if I'm not on the top. I want to play big stages. I want to play the last rounds of every tournament. I want to be one of the best players in the world.

"But at the end, I always had this small part of me I had faith on myself, I had this belief that I could come back."