Redmond’s Kristina Liutova, 16, qualifies for US Open — draws Olympic Gold Medalist Zheng Qinwen in first round

Redmond’s Kristina Liutova — the 16-year-old making a rapid rise in women’s tennis — just reached another milestone, and now faces one of the sport’s biggest names.

Kristina Liutova won her third match in the US Open qualifying rounds Friday, beating Martyna Kubka 6-4, 6-0 to earn a spot in the event’s main draw.

Liutova will face 2024 women’s tennis Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen in the first round on Monday.

Zheng was the runner-up at the 2024 Australian Open. In 2025, she made the quarterfinals of the French Open and reached a career-high ranking of 4. However, she also underwent elbow surgery that year and has since been trying to climb back up the rankings.

Zheng is currently ranked 121. Liutova’s rank is 125.

The Russian-born Liutova is on a nine-match winning streak, dating back to her victory earlier this month in Memphis, where she made history by becoming the first player born in the 2010s to win a WTA tournament. Her record in 2026 is 33-4.

“Honestly, I never look at the stats,” Liutova told KIRO Newsradio last week. “When I get told, I forget immediately.”

Instead, Liutova takes things one match at a time.

A US Open first that’s only been done once

To win the US Open, she will need to win seven more matches and extend her streak to 16. That would be an extremely difficult, but not unprecedented feat.

In 2021, British player Emma Raducanu, who was 18 years old at the time, came through qualifying to win the US Open without dropping a set. She was the first and only qualifier, male or female, to win a Grand Slam singles tournament in the Open Era.

Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.

Follow @FrankLenziKIRO