Elena Rybakina Becomes World No. 1 After US Open Win Over Zheng

NEW YORK — Elena Rybakina has reached her first US Open semifinal and, in the process, secured the biggest ranking milestone of her career.

The second-seeded Kazakh defeated Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday in New York, guaranteeing that she will become the new WTA world No. 1 when the rankings are updated after the tournament.

Rybakina will officially take the top position on Monday, September 14. She becomes the 30th woman to reach No. 1 in WTA singles history and the first player from Kazakhstan, male or female, to hold the ranking.

The victory also ended Aryna Sabalenka’s long spell at the top. Sabalenka had held the No. 1 ranking since October 2024 and entered the US Open as the defending champion and top seed.

Rybakina’s route to the semifinal was not straightforward.

Zheng, who had come through qualifying, took the opening set 6-3 and threatened to extend one of the tournament’s most unexpected runs. The Chinese player had already beaten former US Open finalist Madison Keys and six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek during her run to the quarterfinals.

Rybakina responded immediately. She took the second set 6-1 before the match tightened again in the decider.

At 4-3 in the third set, Rybakina faced a break point that would have put Zheng in position to serve for the match. Instead, she attacked the net and began a decisive stretch, winning six consecutive points and eventually three straight games to close out the match. The contest lasted two hours and 14 minutes.

The result continues a strong season for Rybakina. The 27-year-old arrived in New York as the No. 2 seed and Australian Open champion, having also established herself as one of the leading hard-court players on tour. The US Open had been the only Grand Slam at which she had not previously reached the quarterfinal stage.

Her semifinal opponent will be either Coco Gauff or Mirra Andreeva.

Andreeva and Gauff meet for a semifinal place

The other women’s quarterfinal in the bottom half of the draw pits No. 4 seed Gauff against No. 5 seed Andreeva at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, entered the match having won her previous 10 matches and without dropping a set in New York. She reached the quarterfinals by defeating fellow American Iva Jovic 6-1, 6-4.

Andreeva arrived with a Grand Slam title of her own. The 19-year-old Russian won the French Open earlier this year and reached her first US Open quarterfinal after beating Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

The matchup is also a familiar one. Gauff had won all five of their previous meetings entering Wednesday, including a three-set victory in Rome in May.

The US Open’s official preview described the match as a meeting between two recent Grand Slam champions with contrasting but versatile games. Both players have the ability to defend deep behind the baseline and switch into aggressive patterns when opportunities appear.

Andreeva has acknowledged the difficulty of facing Gauff, particularly with the American playing in front of her home crowd.

“I think we all know that Coco is a great fighter, so I feel like not one point is going to be easy if I play her,” Andreeva said before the match.

At the latest verification for this report, the Andreeva-Gauff quarterfinal had not produced a final result in the official WTA match listing. The WTA page continued to list the match as upcoming, while live coverage had reported Andreeva taking the opening set 6-2.

That distinction matters: Rybakina’s semifinal place and new No. 1 ranking are confirmed, while the identity of her semifinal opponent remains unsettled at the time of publication.

A new No. 1 at the US Open

Rybakina’s rise changes the top of women’s tennis after a period of stability at the summit.

Sabalenka’s reign will end when the next rankings are published, although she remains in contention for another US Open title. She has already reached the semifinals and will face No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula.

Rybakina, meanwhile, now has a chance to add a second Grand Slam title of the season to her Australian Open triumph.

Her semifinal is scheduled for Thursday. The opponent will be decided by the Andreeva-Gauff quarterfinal.

For Zheng, the loss ends an extraordinary tournament. Ranked No. 121 after an injury-interrupted period, she came through qualifying and reached the last eight before Rybakina finally stopped her run.

The next major question in the women’s draw is therefore straightforward: whether Gauff’s experience at Flushing Meadows or Andreeva’s recent rise will put either player across the net from the new world No. 1.

At the time of publication, that part of the semifinal lineup had yet to be settled.