Elena Rybakina is advancing to the semifinals of the U.S. Open and will ascend to the top position in the women’s tennis rankings.
On Wednesday, Rybakina triumphed over Zheng Qinwen with a score of 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, securing her place as the new No. 1 in the WTA rankings.
The Australian Open champion is set to compete against either No. 4 Coco Gauff or No. 5 Mirra Andreeva on Thursday. In the other semifinal, top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka will take on No. 3 Jessica Pegula.
Regardless of the outcomes in the upcoming matches, Rybakina will end Sabalenka’s 99-week reign at No. 1 when the new rankings are published on Monday.
“It’s just a number at this point, and of course, I’m in the semifinals, so my aim is to win the tournament,” Rybakina stated. “It’s an incredible milestone, but we all know how quickly things can shift in tennis regarding rankings during a match, so I believe I need to concentrate on my performance, recover, and enjoy tomorrow.”
Rybakina and Zheng were slated to begin their match roughly eight hours after Ben Shelton concluded his victory against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz at 3:33 a.m., marking the latest finish in U.S. Open history.
Rybakina mentioned that she faced difficulties with the sun and shadows in Arthur Ashe Stadium early on, having started later in the day in her previous matches.
Zheng took advantage of Rybakina’s early difficulties, managing to achieve her only break of the match against one of the top servers in women’s tennis, which allowed her to take a 5-3 lead in the first set.
However, Zheng, who has been trailing frequently during her matches in Flushing Meadows, was unable to maintain her lead, and Rybakina dominated the second set in just 38 minutes.
Dramatic run to quarterfinals
Zheng, the 2024 Olympic gold medalist from China, had to navigate through the qualifying rounds to enter the main draw after elbow surgery caused her ranking to drop to No. 121. Once ranked No. 4, she is now assured of returning to the top 60.
She made an impressive journey to the quarterfinals, overcoming a 5-0 deficit in the third set against Madison Keys in the third round and then recovering from another 5-0 disadvantage in the first set of her fourth-round win over No. 8-seed Iga Swiatek.
Yet, a double fault handed her opponent a 5-4 lead in the third set, allowing Rybakina to serve it out and reach the U.S. Open semifinals for the first time.
“I believe the victories I’ve achieved thus far are significant, but clearly today during the match, I had many opportunities in the third set that I didn’t capitalize on,” Zheng reflected. “It’s unfortunate to lose this match, but I can certainly take away positive experiences from this year’s U.S. Open.”
Rybakina entered the tournament needing to reach the semifinals to ensure she would surpass Sabalenka in the rankings. Had the 27-year-old from Kazakhstan lost before the semifinals, either Sabalenka, Pegula, or Gauff could have claimed the No. 1 spot next week by winning the tournament.
In the men’s quarterfinals, top seed Alexander Zverev was set to face Botic van de Zandschulp, while No. 28 Alexander Blockx was to compete against Karen Khachanov. The winners of these matches will meet on Friday, the same day Shelton and No. 11 seed Frances Tiafoe will compete in an all-American semifinal.
In the women’s doubles, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani were eliminated by Americans Robin Montgomery and Ashley Krueger with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8) in the semifinals.
Dabrowski and Stefani held an 8-2 lead during the tiebreaker before losing eight consecutive points. Dabrowski previously won the U.S. Open in 2023 and 2025 alongside New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe.