NEW YORK -- Mere weeks after going toe-to-toe for Olympic gold in Paris, Zheng Qinwen and Donna Vekic will go at it again on Sunday at the US Open. There is no hardware on the line in this Round of 16 clash -- at least not immediately -- but both women have their hearts set on winning a first Grand Slam title in less than seven days time.
Zheng and Vekic will renew their Paris duel under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium, but it it won't be the only high-stakes rematch on Day 7. Earlier in the day, US Open champion Coco Gauff will look to flip the script on her Olympic teammate and Wimbledon vanquisher, Emma Navarro, to keep her title defense alive.
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Based on recent results, Gauff and Vekic go into Sunday as the underdogs. Reflecting on the gold-medal match four weeks ago, Vekic could only tip her cap towards Zheng.
"[Zheng] played an unbelievable match in Paris," Vekic said after defeating Peyton Stearns in the third round. "She was too good that match. I had a couple of chances, but didn't manage to pull them off."
At 28 years old, No.24 Vekic is inching ever closer to her career-high PIF WTA Ranking at No.19, which she achieved in 2019. A teenage phenom who has endured enough ups and downs for multiple WTA careers, the Croatian is playing some of the best tennis of her career. Prior to winning an improbable silver medal in Paris, Vekic made her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon. She narrowly lost to No.5 Jasmine Paolini 10-8 in a match tiebreak. It was the longest Wimbledon women's semifinal in the tournament's history.
"I think after Wimbledon it was tough, but after a couple of days I was in Croatia and everyone was talking about it," Vekic said. "It made me hungry to do well at the Olympics. It really motivated me.
"Then after winning the medal in Paris, now I feel a lot more relaxed. If I never ever win anything again, it's fine.
"But, you know, now coming to New York, I'm motivated more than ever."
Motivation has been the question for Zheng as she tries to back up her career-defining win in Paris. An individual gold medal means a great deal to any country, but even more so in China, where Zheng has already found it impossible to walk down the street without fans tracking her down.
Zheng posted the biggest result of career -- at the time -- in January at the Australian Open, when she became the first Chinese player to make a major final since Li Na. She didn't make another semifinal for five months.
"I feel really proud of myself for making the second week because I didn't have easy opponents," Zheng said, "especially in the first round against Anisimova. She's a really, really good player.
"It's a typical match that I will fall there after big victories [but] I always been telling myself, no, you can't fall here. You need to keep yourself up. You need to keep fighting."
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One thing both players agree on is the change in surface from clay to hard will play a significant role in their match-up. Three of Zheng's four titles have come on clay. In contrast, Vekic prefers the faster courts.
"She's good at changing directions," Zheng said. "If you give the ball soft to her hand, she will make you move. In that match we play on clay, so it's different games, different tactic style. Right now we come back to hard court. I'm sure it will be more difficult because I consider she's more hard court player instead of clay court player.
"She did a really good job in Wimbledon, so I consider her as a tough opponent. I have to be ready, play 100%."
The winner will face either No.2 Aryna Sabalenka or No.33 seed Elise Mertens in the quarterfinals.
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"Ready" is not the word Gauff would use to describe how she was feeling on court when she faced Navarro in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon. Navarro earned her first win over Gauff with an incredible ball-striking performance, one that left Gauff with zero answers.
It's a match the World No.3 regrets, not because of the result, but her attitude.
"I feel like that match at Wimbledon I think I mentally just literally collapsed on the court," Gauff said after her three-set win over Elina Svitolina. "I was very frustrated, and she played well. That was, I think to me, the best tennis she played, like that tournament.
"I think going into this match, I have to expect her to play her best tennis, and I just need to know that I need to bring it and mentally be there from the beginning to the end because she's going to be a tough opponent."
It will be the third meeting of the year between the two young Americans. Gauff won their first on hard court during her title run in Auckland. Since then, a lot has changed. Navarro has been the quiet story of the season, barrelling up the rankings with consistent play to put herself in good position to break into the Top 10 this season.
"In my head I'll always just be kind of regular Emma, under-the-radar Emma," she said, "but yeah, maybe to the rest of the world I'm more on the radar now.
"I thought being on the radar would be more of a scary thing than it actually is. Now that I think I'm here, it's not so bad."
Gauff and Navarro bonded as roommates during their stint on Team USA at the Paris Olympics. Navarro, 23, marveled at how Gauff, 20, handled the constant spotlight as the team worked their way through the Olympic village.
"We kind of had a running joke that the people that stayed in the Village as opposed to going to the hotel were 'digging'," Navarro said. "They were digging it out, digging really deep. I dug as long as I could, but I eventually had to move to the hotel because I wasn't really sleeping too much at the Village. Coco dug it out all week.
"Getting to know her was awesome. She gets a ton of attention. Just walking around the Village with her was pretty crazy. People constantly coming up to her and wanting to trade pins, wanting to take a picture with her. Especially for her age, to be able to handle it as well as she does is really impressive. I have a ton of respect for her."
The winner will face either No.26 seed Paula Badosa or Wang Yafan.
