Zheng Qinwen comes through an injury and qualifying to make a run to the US Open quarterfinals

NEW YORK (AP) — Zheng Qinwen won't deny it. Having to qualify for the U.S. Open was tough.

The qualifying tournament is for up-and-coming players, or maybe ones who are on their way out. It's not a place to find players with resumes like Zheng's.

“Psychologically, it is very difficult to accept,” the 23-year-old from China said. “I mean, I used to be top 10, Olympic champion. I've played in the big stadiums since the beginning.”

Now she's back in them again after engineering comebacks from 5-0 deficits in her last two matches, first against No. 22 Madison Keys and then No. 8 Iga Swiatek, to reach the quarterfinals.

Zheng will play Wednesday against No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina, who will move to No. 1 in the WTA rankings with a victory.

Zheng was once ranked as high as No. 4. She reached the Australian Open final in 2024, made a second straight trip to the U.S. Open quarterfinals later that year, and in between won the first gold medal for China in tennis since the sport returned to the Olympics in 1988.

But elbow surgery and the subsequent time off — Zheng played only one tournament between July 2025 and February 2026 — dropped her way down the rankings. She is currently No. 121, no longer high enough to qualify automatically for the biggest tournaments.

“I couldn’t perform well the last three, four months. I know people had a lot of doubt about me, and it’s just really hard for me,” Zheng said. "I just need to keep positive every single day, telling myself just keep working and let’s see when the result is going to happen.

“It is a really, really tough process. I suffered a lot, and I have been through a lot of pain every single loss that I have.”

The one that sparked this turnaround came last month in Toronto, when Zheng was trying to qualify for the Masters 1000 tournament there. She was beaten by Lanlana Tararudee in straight sets, with Zheng saying she played “really a disaster there.”

“My coach sat down with me and we had a long talk together. He told me, ‘You can’t continue playing like this. You need to have a training block and find your tennis again,’” Zheng said. “I thought about it, it just took five seconds. I said, ‘OK, let’s do that.’”

They went to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, where Zheng said they spent the entire time on the courts or in the gym, working for 12 hours one day.

“It was really tough, but this is how sport shows,” Zheng said. “If you don’t work hard, you don’t have it.”

Zheng came to New York and won three matches in qualifying to make the main draw. Then, after two victories she found herself down 5-0 in the third set against Keys before erasing a match point and winning 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5.

Swiatek then raced out to a 5-0 lead Monday before Zheng, who said she initially had trouble adjusting to playing in Arthur Ashe Stadium again, recovered to oust the 2022 champion 7-5, 6-3.

“Well, she definitely found her form, and I feel like she’s playing now with a lot of confidence after so many wins in a row,” Rybakina said. “So she’s very dangerous.”

Zheng said she always had the confidence that she could make it back, and when it didn't happen as quickly as she hoped it meant she just needed to work harder.

Now she has become the first qualifier to reach the quarterfinals in Flushing Meadows since Emma Raducanu won the title in 2021.

“I’m just really happy to be back again,” Zheng said. “I mean, if that’s what God gives to me, all the losses before, I’m sure that he will give me something back, no?”

See AP’s full tennis coverage here

Qinwen Zheng, of China, returns the ball to Iga Swiatek, of Poland, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Fans react to Qinwen Zheng, of China, winning a match against Iga Swiatek, of Poland, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Qinwen Zheng, of China, celebrates after winning a match against Iga Swiatek, of Poland, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Qinwen Zheng, of China, celebrates after winning a match against Iga Swiatek, of Poland, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

LONDON (AP) — Britain is set to ban goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in response to an expansion program that is imperiling efforts to establish a Palestinian state, the U.K. government said Tuesday.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is due to give details in the House of Commons later, after saying last week that he would “reset” U.K. relations with Israel.

Before the announcement, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said that it “isn’t intended to be a boycott of all Israeli goods.”

He said that the measures were “specifically targeted at the expansion of these settlements, which are illegal under international law, in the West Bank.”

“At the heart of the statement is the idea that the U.K., along with many other countries, do not want to see the possibility of a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine being erased by changes to the facts on the ground,” McFadden told Times Radio.

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the most ultranationalist and religious in Israel’s history. It has presided over a surge of settlement construction in the West Bank, which Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war and which would make up the main part of a future Palestinian state.

Netanyahu's government views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people and is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

The United Kingdom, a longtime ally of Israel, recognized Palestinian statehood last year in an attempt to revive dwindling efforts to achieve a two-state solution.

The center-left Labour Party government has previously sanctioned some Israeli settlers and illegal outposts over violence against Palestinians and illegal development in the West Bank. Tuesday's announcement is set to expand sanctions to cover trade in goods, and possibly some services, with all West Bank settlements.

U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has voiced concerns about the E1 settlement project approved by Israel, which would effectively cut the territory in two. Palestinians and rights groups say it could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.

A tougher line on settlements is likely to be welcomed by many Labour voters and lawmakers, who have urged the government to go further in sanctioning Israel and supporting the Palestinians.

But some expressed concern that the move could boost support for Netanyahu, who is facing a tough battle for reelection in October.

Senior Israeli ministers condemned the U.K. government’s impending announcement. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar warned that “if Britain acts against Israel, Israel will act against Britain.”

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s hard-line public security minister, called on Netanyahu to recognize Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic known in Argentina as Islas Malvinas.

The move also was criticized by the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said that it was “discrimination against the Jewish people.” He said that the U.K. could face “repercussions or retaliations” from the U.S. if it imposed the sanctions.

Several U.S. states have laws banning contracts or investments with businesses that boycott Israeli firms, including those based in the West Bank. U.S. Rep. Randy Fines, R-Fla., said in a post on social media that the U.K. ban could put at risk “billions of dollars” in trade between British businesses and Florida.

Burnham’s office said that the prime minister spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday and set out “the U.K.’s commitment to working toward peace and security in the region” and achieving a two-state solution. There was no word on how Trump responded.

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Megan Mineiro contributed to this report from Jerusalem.

FILE - Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband speaks during a press conference in Madrid, Spain, on July 29, 2026. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP, File)