Elena Rybakina Advances to US Open Semifinals and Becomes World Number One

Elena Rybakina walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday chasing a semi-final spot. She walked out as the next world number one.

The 27-year-old Kazakh fought back from a set down to beat Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 14 minutes, sealing not only her place in the US Open last four but also her rise to the top of the rankings. Aryna Sabalenka will surrender the number one spot next week; Rybakina will become the 30th woman to lead the WTA list, and the first from Kazakhstan.

For now, she insists it’s just a line on a screen.

"It's just a number right now," she said on court. "Of course I'm in the semis. It's an amazing achievement (but) during the match I feel like I just need to focus on my game."

A bad start, a hard reset

For a set, she didn’t. Zheng jumped on her.

The Chinese star, still ranked 121 after an eight‑month layoff for elbow surgery, came out swinging. She earned the first break chances of the match in the eighth game and broke for 5-3 when Rybakina pushed a forehand into the net. The ninth game turned into a mini-epic: 14 minutes, five break points saved by Zheng, an ace, a backhand winner down the line, a service winner, and a series of Rybakina errors on the return.

On her fourth set point, Zheng watched another Rybakina forehand return sail long. First set, 6-3. The Olympic champion had the scoreboard and the momentum.

"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."

There was another battle going on, too. This was her first day match of the tournament after a run of night sessions, and she didn’t hide how much it unsettled her.

"It's tough to find words. It was a difficult match... I didn't start that well, I was too much negative," she said. "It has been an early match. 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'.

The reset came fast.

Statement second set

Rybakina opened the second set with back-to-back aces, a blunt declaration that the match had changed. She held, then broke Zheng immediately with a forehand winner for 2-0. When Zheng tried to punch back, Rybakina shut the door again, saving a break point with another forehand winner on her way to a 4-1 lead.

The pressure finally told. Rybakina broke once more with a forehand winner to move 5-1 up and then served out the set with authority. From 3-6 to 6-1, she had turned a tense quarter-final into a physical, baseline grind that suited her power and depth.

Any questions about the foot injury that had disrupted her US Open preparation faded with every step. She has shown no sign of it this fortnight and improved her head-to-head record against Zheng to 5-1, with three of those wins coming this season.

Nerve and numbers in the decider

The third set tightened again. Both players felt the stakes.

Zheng, who had come through qualifying and strung together seven wins in New York to guarantee herself a return to the top 60 next week, refused to fold. She saved a break point in the fifth game. Rybakina did the same in the eighth. At 4-4, the match sat on a knife-edge.

Then came the slip.

Serving in the ninth game, Zheng handed over the decisive break with a double fault. After all the clean hitting, the heavy rallies, the fine margins, it was a brutal way to crack.

"I got a lot of chances in the third set, but I didn't take them," Zheng said. "Maybe when she serve second serve, I could be more aggressive sometimes and make a bit less mistake in the return. That was a bit pity for me to lose this match, but obviously I can take positive things from the US Open this year."

Rybakina didn’t offer her a second chance. She stepped up to serve for the match at 5-4 and closed it out, completing a comeback that carried more weight than a normal quarter-final win.

She had been 0-6 at the US Open when dropping the first set before Wednesday. That streak is over. So, soon, is Sabalenka’s reign at the top.

History made, business unfinished

Rybakina’s victory also ended the number one dreams of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, the two Americans who, along with Sabalenka, started the day still in contention for top spot. Only the second seed kept her nerve.

She will face the winner of Gauff, the fourth seed and twice a major champion, and Mirra Andreeva, the 19-year-old French Open champion, in Thursday’s semi-final. On the other side of the draw, Sabalenka and Pegula meet in the other semi, stripped now of the ranking sub-plot but not the edge.

For Rybakina, the numbers tell a stark story. She is already a Wimbledon champion (2022) and this year’s Australian Open winner. She now chases a third major, on a surface where she had never gone this deep.

"It's something for which you're going to be very proud when you finish at the end of the year," she said of the ranking. "No matter how long you're going to stay it's an achievement and I feel very proud."

The pride can wait. Arthur Ashe will demand more answers on Thursday.