US Open 2023: Ons Jabeur vs Qinwen Zheng preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick

Fixture: (5) Ons Jabeur vs (23) Qinwen Zheng

Date: September 4, 2023

Tournament:US Open 2023

Round: Fourth round (Round of 16)

Venue: New York, United States

Surface: Hard

Prize money: $65,000,000

Ons Jabeur vs Qinwen Zheng preview

Three-time Major finalist Ons Jabeur will square off against Qinwen Zheng in the fourth round of the 2023 US Open on Monday (September 4).

Jabeur sneaked past Camila Osorio and Linda Noskova to set up a third-round showdown with 31st seed Marie Bouzkova. The Tunisian fell behind 4-1 in the first set, but then saved a set point and fought back to make it 5-5. However, she then dropped the next couple of games to lose the set.

Jabeur wasted a set point and even failed to serve out the set at 5-4, but still managed to capture the second set in the tie-break. She let go of an early lead in the third set only to snag another break of serve to put herself in the driver's seat. This sealed the match in her favor as she scored a 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3 win.

Zheng, meanwhile, scored wins over Nadia Podoroska and Kaia Kanepi to reach the third round, where she took on Lucia Bronzetti. The Chinese youngster rallied from a break down in the first set to clinch it.

Zheng bagged a break of serve to go 4-3 up in the second set, but Bronzetti turned the tables on her as she clinched three games in a row to claim the set. The former led 2-0 in the decider, after which the momentum swung in the latter's favor.

Bronzetti reeled off four straight games to go 4-2 up. However, Zheng battled hard to turn things around and swept the last four games of the match to complete a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win.

Ons Jabeur vs Qinwen Zheng head-to-head

Zheng leads Jabeur 1-0 in the head-to-head. She won their previous encounter at the 2022 Canadian Open following the Tunisian's mid-match retirement.

Ons Jabeur vs Qinwen Zheng odds

(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)

Ons Jabeur vs Qinwen Zheng prediction

Both have looked quite shaky in this tournament so far and were pushed to three sets in the last two matches. The duo also committed plenty of errors in the previous round before prevailing in the end.

Jabeur has especially looked more vulnerable and was even battling an illness at the start of the tournament. Her previous match against Zheng ended on a whimper as an injury forced her to throw in the towel.

Zheng prefers to take the initiative with her attacking brand of tennis, which Jabeur relies more on her finesse. Nevertheless, the Tunisian is quite a steady player from the baseline as well. As for the Chinese, she'll need to be mindful of her serve, which goes from an asset to a liability quite easily.

Zheng has lost her last four matches against top-10 players, but might be able to snap the trend against Jabeur this time. Given their form, this match could swing either way, but the 20-year-old looks primed to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Pick: Qinwen Zheng to win in three sets.