Elena Rybakina Becomes World No. 1 After US Open Quarterfinal Win
Elena Rybakina walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday as a contender. She walked out as the next world No. 1.
The 27-year-old from Kazakhstan survived a jolting start to defeat Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the US Open quarterfinals, a comeback that not only booked her a semifinal spot, but also confirmed her rise to the top of the WTA rankings for the first time in her career.
She will officially replace Aryna Sabalenka on Monday. The math is done. The race is over.
From slow start to statement win
For a set, Zheng had Rybakina on the ropes. The Chinese star ripped through the opener 6-3, taking control of the baseline exchanges and forcing Rybakina into rushed swings and short replies. The No. 1 dream looked distant.
Then the switch flipped.
Rybakina tightened her serve, found her length, and began to dictate with the clean, heavy power that has become her trademark. The second set raced away 6-1, the tone of the match abruptly reversed as Zheng struggled to live with the pace and precision now coming at her.
The decider turned into a test of nerve. One break was always likely to decide it, and when the chance came, Rybakina seized it. She protected her lead with calm, measured serving, closing out the match to secure a place in the last four and, with it, the No. 1 ranking.
She is the first player from Kazakhstan — man or woman — to sit on top of the singles world. She is also the 30th player in WTA history to reach No. 1, joining a list that runs through the sport’s modern legends.
Sabalenka’s reign halted
Rybakina’s surge ends one of the longest recent runs at the summit. Sabalenka’s spell as world No. 1 stops at 99 consecutive weeks, the sixth-longest unbroken reign in WTA history. In total, the Belarusian has spent 107 weeks at the top, a stretch that underlined her consistency and power across surfaces.
She had held the No. 1 position since October 21, 2024, fending off all challengers as the tour cycled through hard, clay, and grass. This season, though, Rybakina kept closing the gap. Point by point, week by week.
By reaching the semifinals in New York, Rybakina made the rankings debate irrelevant. Even if Sabalenka goes on to lift the US Open trophy, the top spot now belongs to the Kazakh.
A packed race, a clear winner
Rybakina arrived in New York as one of three players with a realistic shot at the summit. Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff both had a path to No. 1, but it was narrow: they needed to win the title and hope Rybakina fell short of the semifinals.
She didn’t blink. They ran out of road.
Gauff did her part on Wednesday, though, fighting through a dramatic quarterfinal of her own. The American saved two match points and clawed back from a set down to beat 19-year-old French Open champion Mirra Andreeva 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-2, booking her place in the last four.
That set up a blockbuster semifinal: the new world No. 1 against the defending US Open champion.
“Elena is the new world number one,” Gauff said afterwards. “It’s going to be a tough match. These are the moments you live for.”
Eyes on trophies, not numbers
For Rybakina, the ranking is a landmark, not a destination. She already owns two major titles — Wimbledon in 2022 and the Australian Open earlier this year — and New York offers a chance at a third.
“It’s just a number right now. My goal is to win the tournaments which I play,” she said, keeping her gaze firmly on the bigger picture. She called the achievement “amazing,” but added a note of realism: in tennis, the rankings can turn quickly.
That awareness is not false modesty. It is the reality of a season in which the margins at the top have rarely been thinner.
A familiar showdown looms
The draw has set up the possibility of a heavyweight final. Sabalenka faces Pegula in the other semifinal, with a potential rematch of this year’s Australian Open championship match waiting at the end of the week.
In Melbourne, Rybakina and Sabalenka went three sets in a bruising, high-quality final. Rybakina came through that battle, a result that helped fuel her climb towards No. 1.
New York could stage the sequel, this time with the roles reversed: Rybakina walking on court as the official world No. 1, Sabalenka trying to rip the trophy — and some of the momentum — back.
For now, the numbers are settled. The story is not.
