Paris Olympics champion Zheng Qinwen rallied from a set down to beat Amanda Anisimova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Monday and reach the second round of the US Open.

China’s Zheng, seeded seventh, next faces Erika Andreeva of Russia, who beat China’s Yuan Yue 6-3, 7-6 (9-7).

“Obviously she’s hitting the ball really good today,” Zheng said of Anisimova, who is on the upswing since returning from a mental health break in January, when she was ranked 373rd in the world.

A run to the final at Toronto this month saw her return to the top 50 and gain a wild card invitation into the main draw. “Every ball (from Anisimova) went inside in the beginning and I couldn’t do anything,” Zheng said. “But as the match went, I started to find my rhythm on hard court. Little by little I started to get into the rhythm.”

Zheng, who finished runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open in January, had said she didn’t want the same let-down that followed that performance in the wake of her Paris Games triumph.

Elina Svitolina, seeded 27th, defeated Maria Lourdes Carle 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Zverev advances

No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev beat lucky loser Maximilian Marterer 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round.

Zverev looked in good form at the start of his campaign, taking the opener with little trouble, but was pushed to four sets after conceding the second in a tight tie-break.

With his fellow German having levelled the score at one set apiece, Zverev found another gear to move through the final two sets with relative ease.

American Ben Shelton, the No 13 men’s seed, advanced to the second round defeating Austrian wildcard Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

Eighth seed Casper Ruud defeated Bu Yunchaokete 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 6-2.