Elena Rybakina will become the No 1 woman in the world for the first time after orchestrating a supreme recovery to reach the semi-finals of the US Open with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over the Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen. By becoming just the 30th player in the history of the WTA to reach the No 1 ranking, Rybakina ends Aryna Sabalenka’s extended spell at the top. The Belarusian has held the position for 99 successive weeks, the sixth-longest consecutive reign in history, and 107 weeks in total.
During last year’s North American hardcourt swing, Rybakina fell out of the top 10 and she was struggling badly with her health and game. She has responded with by far the best year of her career, following up her WTA Finals triumph in November with her second grand slam title at the Australian Open, four years after her first triumph at Wimbledon. She has also won titles in Ningbo and Stuttgart in addition to finishing runner-up in Indian Wells and Toronto.
Between Sabalenka’s difficult past five months and Rybakina’s resurgence, the Kazakhstani arrived in New York fully conscious of the opportunity before her. The No 1 ranking was always in her hands, with a run to the semi-final guaranteeing it from the beginning. However, so many things seemed to be conspiring against Rybakina.
She was forced to retire from her quarter-final against Iga Swiatek at the Cincinnati Open, 12 days before her first round in New York, due to an achilles injury. Rybakina said she did not train for seven days and she was unsure of how her body would react. I’m really glad how everything worked out.
We didn’t even know if I’m going to be able to play or not. Also, a good doctor on the phone all the time.” While a semi-final has always been attainable, the US Open has long stood as her most challenging major, the one grand slam Rybakina has struggled to perform at. Her fourth-round loss last year was previously her best result in New York.
This time, she has maintained her focus and navigated each challenge. Rybakina started slowly against a Zheng radiating confidence after her previous comeback victories over Madison Keys and Swiatek and in a contest between two of the biggest servers in the world, one sloppy service game from Rybakina marked the difference between them in set one. But the 27-year-old responded brilliantly, finding rhythm behind her destructive serve and dominating the baseline with her easy power to quickly force a third set.
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