Elena Rybakina Dominates Naomi Osaka at US Open
Elena Rybakina crushed Naomi Osaka 6–1, 6–4 in just 66 minutes at Flushing Meadows, powering into the US Open quarterfinals and moving to within a single win of the No. 1 ranking.
This was billed as a clash of major champions. It never became a contest.
Rybakina in full control
From the first ball, the second seed played like a woman intent on leaving no doubt. She tore through the opening set in 22 minutes, ripping through Osaka’s serve and dictating with her own. Two breaks from three chances, a flurry of first-strike winners, and a booming serve to close it out. Osaka, seeded 13th, barely had time to settle.
The pattern was brutal and simple: Rybakina stepped in, took the ball early, and gave Osaka almost nothing to work with. The Japanese star, still rebuilding her game and confidence at the top level, found herself constantly reacting, rarely setting the terms of a rally.
The scoreboard told the story. The tempo did the rest.
Osaka’s fight – and pain – in the second set
Osaka finally found some resistance at the start of the second set. She held more comfortably, began to land heavier first serves, and at 2–2 the match felt as if it might finally stretch.
Then came the grim moment.
At that change of ends, Osaka reached for her left leg, clearly troubled by the Achilles tendon issue that had already flared in the third round. She played on, saving a break point with defiant hitting, but the movement was compromised. Every wide ball, every scramble forward, looked like a negotiation with pain.
The pressure finally told in the seventh game. Osaka, serving at 3–3, blinked first. A routine forehand flew long, handing Rybakina the decisive break. The Kazakh didn’t hesitate. She locked down her service games, tightened the screws from the baseline, and refused to offer even a glimmer of a comeback.
One clean hold later, the handshake arrived. Osaka’s run was over; Rybakina’s push for history rolled on.
One win from No. 1
The stakes now rise sharply.
In the quarterfinals, Rybakina will face Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, a matchup loaded with power, ambition, and subtext. Win that, and Rybakina will climb to world No. 1 for the first time in her career — a landmark that would underline what her trophies have already suggested.
She is no longer just a dangerous presence in the draw. She is one of the sport’s central forces.
With Wimbledon 2022 and the Australian Open 2026 already on her résumé, New York now offers her not only another deep run at a major, but a shot at the ranking summit. The question at this US Open is no longer whether Elena Rybakina belongs at the top.
It’s who can stop her getting there.
