Home favourites endured a miserable day at the US Open on Saturday as all three former finalists – Amanda Anisimova, Madison Keys and Taylor Fritz – crashed out in the third round.
Keys, the 2017 finalist, squandered a match point and lost the final seven games as Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng triumphed 1-6 7-6(3) 7-5. Zheng, ranked 121st after elbow surgery, had to qualify for the main draw but has twice reached the quarter-finals in New York.
Anisimova, last year's runner-up and the 10th seed, fell 6-2 7-5 to 24th seed Anastasia Potapova, converting only three of 16 break-point chances. Fritz, the 2024 finalist, then lost from two sets up against Francisco Cerundolo, spurning three break points at 4-3 in the final set.
Cerundolo, playing his first match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, said: "In the third I started to get into it, step by step, and in the fourth and fifth I played really good tennis. Taylor is a top player, he's played in the final here, so winning, my first time on Arthur Ashe, it's fantastic."
French Open finalist Flavio Cobolli also lost to Alexander Blockx, while Iga Swiatek avoided an upset by beating Marie Bouzkova in two tight tiebreaks.