Elena Rybakina Becomes World Number One After US Open Victory
Elena Rybakina walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday chasing a semi-final spot. She walked out as the soon-to-be world number one.
The 27-year-old Kazakh star dragged herself back from a set down to beat Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 14 minutes, securing not just a place in the US Open last four but the top ranking for the first time in her career. Aryna Sabalenka will be dethroned on Monday. A new name will sit at the top of the women’s game.
“It’s just a number right now,” Rybakina said on court, trying to keep the moment small even as history swirled around her. She preferred to talk about the semi-final, about focusing on her game. The ranking can wait.
A slow start, a sharp reset
Rybakina had never won a US Open match after losing the first set. She was 0-6 in that situation coming into the day. Zheng looked ready to extend that run.
The Chinese star, the reigning Olympic champion and ranked 121 after a long layoff with elbow surgery, came out with clean, heavy hitting. She earned the first break chances in the eighth game and pounced, moving ahead 5-3 when Rybakina pushed a forehand into the net.
What followed was a bruising, 14-minute ninth game that set the tone for the afternoon. Zheng saved five break points with a mix of guts and precision: an ace, a backhand winner down the line, a service winner, and help from Rybakina’s misfiring backhand returns. On her fourth set point, Zheng drew another forehand error and pocketed the opener.
“It was very tough. I didn’t start my best,” Rybakina admitted. “I was struggling a little bit. We got into long rallies and I made mistakes. I was trying to be more aggressive because I feel like I wasn’t pushing enough.”
She also confessed to fighting herself. The early start, the shifting shadows on Ashe, the change from her usual night-session routine — all of it bothered her. “I was too much negative,” she said. “In my head I was complaining about the shadow… I’m glad I pushed all the negative thoughts away. I just kept telling myself: ‘Keep fighting’.”
Once she did, the match flipped.
Rybakina turns the screws
Rybakina opened the second set with back-to-back aces, a statement hold that steadied her and rattled Zheng. The Kazakh broke immediately with a forehand winner for 2-0, then stared down a break point at 3-1, again answering with a forehand winner to protect her lead.
Her serve, which had wavered in the first set, locked in. Her groundstrokes started to bite. Zheng, who had ridden a wave of momentum through qualifying and seven wins in New York, suddenly found herself on the back foot.
Rybakina broke again with another forehand winner for 5-1 and closed out the set without fuss. From 3-6 to 6-1, the second seed had found her world-class gear.
She has looked untroubled by the foot injury that disrupted her US Open build-up, and this win moved her to 5-1 overall against Zheng, including three victories this season alone.
A tense decider, a historic finish
The third set tightened. Zheng, chasing her first US Open semi-final after reaching her maiden major final at the Australian Open in January, refused to fade.
She saved a break point in the fifth game. Rybakina did the same in the eighth. At 4-4, the match balanced on a knife edge.
Then came the crack.
Serving in the ninth game, Zheng double-faulted to hand over the decisive break. One small lapse, one brutal consequence. “I got a lot of chances in the third set, but I didn’t take them,” she said later. “Maybe when she serve second serve, I could be more aggressive sometimes and make a bit less mistake in the return. Today is just few points makes the difference.”
Rybakina, now smelling the finish line, did not hesitate. She held serve for 6-4 and the match, sealing not only a comeback victory but her place in tennis history.
She becomes the first player from Kazakhstan to reach world number one, and the 30th woman ever to hold the top spot. “No matter how long you’re going to stay it’s an achievement and I feel very proud,” she said. “It’s something for which you’re going to be very proud when you finish at the end of the year.”
A breakout run, a brutal end
For Zheng, the loss stung, but the fortnight will still reshape her season. Ranked 121 after nearly eight months out following elbow surgery, she came through qualifying and strung together seven wins in New York. Her reward: a surge back into the top 60 next week.
“That was a bit pity for me to lose this match,” she said, “but obviously I can take positive things from the US Open this year.”
She leaves having pushed the soon-to-be world number one deep into a deciding set and having reminded the tour of the level that took her to the Australian Open final and Olympic gold.
A new number one, and a loaded semi-final line-up
Rybakina’s victory did more than book her a place in the last four. It shut the door on three other contenders for the top ranking. Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula all had mathematical chances to leave Flushing Meadows as number one. All those scenarios disappeared with Rybakina’s win.
The second seed will now face the winner of the quarter-final between Gauff, the fourth-ranked American and twice a major champion, and 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva, the reigning French Open champion and world number five from Russia.
On the other side of the draw, Sabalenka and Pegula will meet in Thursday’s other semi-final, a heavyweight clash layered with its own ranking and legacy implications.
Rybakina already owns two Grand Slam titles — Wimbledon 2022 and this year’s Australian Open. Now she stands two wins from a third major and will walk into the semi-finals as the incoming world number one.
The number, as she insists, is “just” a number for now. But with the US Open trophy still up for grabs, how long will it stay that way?
