Elena Rybakina Becomes New No. 1 After US Open Semifinals

Elena Rybakina walked off Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night with more than just a place in the US Open semifinals. She walked off as the new No. 1.

The 27-year-old from Kazakhstan overturned a slow start to beat Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, a result that not only extended her New York campaign but also sealed her rise to the top of the WTA rankings for the first time in her career. The change becomes official on Monday, yet the math is already done. The throne is hers.

A slow start, then a statement

For a set, Zheng had Rybakina on the back foot. The Chinese star, a growing force at the majors, dictated early and pocketed the opener 6-3, asking serious questions of the Wimbledon 2022 and Australian Open 2024 champion.

Rybakina answered them with authority.

She tightened her baseline game, found her first serve, and began to bully the rallies. The response was ruthless: a 6-1 second set that flipped the tone of the match and reminded everyone why she has shadowed Aryna Sabalenka at the top of the rankings all season.

The decider was closer, nervier. Zheng refused to go away, but Rybakina’s weight of shot and composure in the tight moments carried her through 6-4. One more win, and she would be in another Grand Slam final. The ranking, though, was already secure.

A historic No. 1

By simply reaching the semifinals, Rybakina guaranteed she will replace Sabalenka as world No. 1, regardless of what the Belarusian does for the rest of the tournament. Even if Sabalenka lifts the US Open trophy, she cannot stop the change at the top.

Rybakina becomes the first player from Kazakhstan, man or woman, to hold the singles No. 1 ranking. She is the 30th woman in WTA history to climb to the summit, a landmark that underlines how rare this territory remains.

Sabalenka’s reign ends after 99 consecutive weeks, the sixth-longest unbroken run since the WTA rankings began. She has spent 107 weeks in total at No. 1, a stretch that has defined this era. Since October 21, 2024, her name has been locked in at the top line. On Monday, it will be Rybakina’s.

This was not a bolt from the blue. Rybakina has been pressing all year, one of the closest and most consistent challengers to Sabalenka. She arrived in New York in a three-way race with Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff for the top spot. For Pegula and Gauff, the equation was brutal: win the US Open and hope Rybakina fell before the semifinals. She didn’t.

Gauff awaits in a blockbuster semifinal

Waiting next is Gauff, the defending US Open champion and former winner in New York, who survived a dramatic quarterfinal of her own. The American saved two match points in a wild 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 comeback against 19-year-old French Open champion Mirra Andreeva.

“Elena is the new world number one,” Gauff said afterward. “It’s going to be a tough match. These are the moments you live for.”

It is a semifinal loaded with storylines: the new No. 1 against the home favorite; a two-time major champion against the player who electrified Flushing Meadows last year; one eye on the title, the other on a rivalry that could define the next few seasons.

On the other side of the draw, Sabalenka faces Pegula in the second semifinal. If both Sabalenka and Rybakina advance, New York will get a rematch of this year’s Australian Open final, where Rybakina prevailed in three sets. The stakes this time would be even higher: a US Open crown and another chapter in a power struggle at the very top of the women’s game.

“Just a number right now”

For all the history attached to the ranking, Rybakina insisted her priorities have not shifted.

“It’s just a number right now. My goal is to win the tournaments which I play,” she said. “It’s an amazing achievement, but you know how quickly everything can change in tennis ranking-wise.”

She already owns two Grand Slam titles. A third in New York would put an exclamation mark on her coronation and send a clear message to the rest of the field: the ranking isn’t symbolic; it’s earned.

The numbers say she is the best player in the world. Over the next few days in Flushing Meadows, she has the chance to prove it under the brightest lights tennis can offer.