China makes more history at the US Open
Zheng Qinwen and Yuan Yue on Thursday joined compatriots Wang Xiyu and Zhang Shuai in the third round of the US Open - the first time in history four women from China have reached the last 32 of a single Grand Slam tennis event. Rising star Zheng defeated Russia's Anastasia Potapova in straight sets to set up a third round clash with Germany's Jule Niemeier. Qualifier Yuan matched Zheng's achievement in beating Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3,. 7-6, and will now face Jessica Pegula of the United States on Saturday for a place in the last 16. In the men's draw, China also celebrated a US Open first, with 22-year-old Wu Yibing advancing to the third round on Wednesday. The 19-year-old Zheng has emerged this year as one of the brightest talents of Chinese tennis, her ranking rising to 39th in the world after a series of assured tournament performances. The youngster has flourished in her first season playing Grand Slam tennis, reaching the second round of the Australian Open before advancing to the fourth round of the French Open and the third round at Wimbledon. Zheng said on Thursday that China's contingent in New York is feeding off the energy of each other's successes. "This is so positive. It means in China the tennis starts to go up," Zheng said. "Between each other we have really good competition. When you have someone to compete, you always can perform better. "I think with this energy, I hope all of us, we can going as far as we can. Such good performance here, I'm happy for all of them." Zheng said her consistency at Grand Slams this year is the result of hard graft on the practice court combined with her dogged determination to succeed. "I always say that Slam is one of my dreams since I was little," she said. "So every time when I arrive here, I will leave everything I have on the court."