Zheng Qinwen to begin U.S. Open with tough challenge from Anisimova

Zheng Qinwen of China will play Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. in her women's singles first-round match at the U.S. Open that begins on August 26.

Zheng and Anisimova have never played each other before. Zheng is the No. 7 seed of the tournament and Anisimova ranks 49th in the world. Zheng hasn't had much time to rest since winning the women's singles gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris and had flu during the Cincinnati Open.

Though Anisimova made the U.S. Open by winning the Wildcard Challenge, she displayed excellent form at the Canadian Open. The 22-year-old knocked out multiple seeded players, including Daria Kasatkina and Anna Kalinskaya (by retirement) from Russia, as well as Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, before losing to her compatriot Jessica Pegula in the final.

Anisimova's excellent performance in Toronto moved her up from No. 132. She is an aggressive baseliner, with powerful groundstrokes from both wings, and can pose a great threat to Zheng.

Zheng aside, there will be another 10 players from the Chinese mainland competing at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. Most of them will meet strong opponents early in the tournament.

For example, Wang Qiang will face the No. 16 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia, Wang Yafan will play ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece in the women's singles first round.

In the men's singles event, all three Chinese players will challenge seeded players in the first round. Zhang Zhizhen will face the No. 25 seed, Jack Draper of Britain. Shang Juncheng will play 27th-seeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan. Bu Yunchaokete will face Norwegian No. 8 seed Casper Ruud.