The qualifying tournament is over. Sixteen women have survived three rounds and are now officially part of the 2026 US Open main draw.
For Qinwen Zheng, that meant completing the job after being pushed to three sets in her qualifying final.
For Bianca Andreescu, it meant the opposite: after cruising through her first two matches, the Canadian fell one victory short.
And then the draw produced a rather unfortunate punchline.
Two of the most eye-catching players to come through qualifying, Zheng and 16-year-old Kristina Liutova, have been drawn against each other in the first round of the US Open.
Qualifying gave both of them a ticket to New York’s best. The main draw immediately guarantees that only one can go any further.
Zheng Finds Another Gear When It Matters
Zheng had not dropped a set through her first two qualifying matches, beating Xiaodi You 6-3, 6-2 and Clara Burel 6-1, 7-5.
Elena Pridankina finally made her work considerably harder.
Zheng took the opening set 6-4, lost the second 3-6 and then responded in the most emphatic way possible after the rain delay: 6-0 in the decider.
There was no gradual recovery and no nervous crawl toward the finish line. With a US Open main-draw place at stake, Zheng shut the door completely.
Her reward is Liutova.
The 16-year-old also needed three sets in the opening round of qualifying but has become increasingly convincing since. She defeated Marta Kubka 6-4, 6-0 in the qualifying final to secure her place in the 128-player draw.
Putting Zheng and Liutova together immediately is unfortunate for the tournament in one sense. Qualifying has produced several interesting stories, but these are arguably the two players whose progression into the main draw generated the most curiosity.
One of those stories will immediately end in the first round.
Andreescu Goes From Six Games Lost to Out
Bianca Andreescu’s exit was much harder to see coming after her first two matches.
The Canadian had beaten Eva Vedder 6-1, 6-2 before demolishing Veronika Podrez 6-0, 6-3. She had dropped only six games in four sets.
Against Tamara Zidansek, she appeared to be heading in the same direction when she took the first set 6-2.
Then the match turned. Rain came and went.
Zidansek won the second set 6-3 and took the decider 6-4, completing a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback and taking the main-draw place Andreescu had looked increasingly likely to claim.
That is the cruelty of Grand Slam qualifying. Two dominant rounds guarantee nothing.
Andreescu was one set from New York. Zidansek will be the one appearing in Sunday’s main draw, where she faces Maria Timofeeva.
The Netherlands and Slovenia Make the Most of Their Chances
The final list of qualifiers also changes the national picture one last time.
The Netherlands and Slovenia produced the best conversion rates from the players they originally sent into qualifying. Two of four Dutch entrants reached the main draw, while Zidansek was one of only two Slovenian starters, giving both countries a 50 percent success rate.
Great Britain finished next at 40 percent. Francesca Jones and Harriet Dart both qualified from an original five-player contingent.
The United States started with by far the largest group, but only three of its 20 entrants ultimately survived all three rounds: Robin Montgomery, Elvina Kalieva and Mary Stoiana.
US Open 2026 Qualifying Success by Country
| Country | Started | Qualified | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 4 | 2 | 50.0% |
| Slovenia | 2 | 1 | 50.0% |
| Great Britain | 5 | 2 | 40.0% |
| Czech Republic | 8 | 2 | 25.0% |
| Australia | 5 | 1 | 20.0% |
| Japan | 5 | 1 | 20.0% |
| China | 6 | 1 | 16.7% |
| United States | 20 | 3 | 15.0% |
| Italy | 7 | 1 | 14.3% |
Sixteen Qualifiers, Sixteen Very Different Main-Draw Assignments
Qualifying may be finished, but the draw has not been particularly generous to several of its survivors.
The obvious match is Zheng against Liutova.
There are several other first-round matches worth circling.
Mary Stoiana faces No. 17 seed Alexandra Eala, giving the American qualifier an immediate test against one of the seeded players in the Gauff quarter.
Storm Hunter draws No. 11 seed Marta Kostyuk, one of the toughest assignments handed to any qualifier.
Montgomery meets No. 32 seed Maria Sakkari, while Italy’s Lucrezia Stefanini opens against Dayana Yastremska.
Elsewhere, Havlickova faces Anna Bondar, Knutson meets Eva Lys, Sakatsume plays Anhelina Kalinina and Arantxa Rus takes on wildcard Leolia Jeanjean.
Three Americans Survive From 20
The United States began qualifying with 20 players.
Only three made it all the way.
Montgomery recovered from losing the opening set against Carson Branstine to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Kalieva had an even harder route, coming from a set down against Vendula Valdmannova to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
Stoiana completed the American trio by beating Yuan Yue 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
That leaves the United States with a 15 percent conversion rate from its original qualifying field.
Britain did considerably better with far fewer entrants. Jones dismissed Joanna Garland 6-4, 6-1, while Dart won the all-British qualifying final against Heather Watson 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Sixteen Tickets Claimed, and Now the Real Tournament Begins
Andreescu came within one set of joining sixteen qualifiers and did not.
Zheng had to respond after dropping her first set of the tournament and did.
Liutova, at 16, made it through all three rounds only to discover that the player waiting on the other side of the main-draw net is another of qualifying’s biggest stories.
That is perhaps the strangest consequence of the week.
Qualifying spent three days finding 16 winners.
The US Open draw has already arranged for two of its most compelling ones to eliminate each other.