Rybakina was not certain to play this US Open. Now she is about to be the new No.1
Elena Rybakina already won this year’s Australian Open title, and is one victory from the No.1 ranking after reaching the US Open quarter-finals.
Elena Rybakina has reached the quarterfinals of the 2026 US Open after defeating Naomi Osaka with a score of 6-1 and 6-4. This marks her best performance in a US Grand Slam tournament. If she advances to the semifinals by defeating Qinwen Zheng, Rybakina will become the new world number one according to the Women's Tennis Association rankings.
Currently, Rybakina is in second place with 8,141 points, while Aryna Sabalenka holds the top spot with 8,575 points. Rybakina has the opportunity to earn up to 780 points by reaching the semifinals, which could propel her to the number one ranking. Sabalenka is also in the running to win the US Open and will face Linda Noskova in the quarterfinals.
Should both Rybakina and Sabalenka advance, they could potentially face each other in the final at Arthur Ashe Stadium, deciding the world number one position and the US Open champion.
Written by urgent.news from Gulf News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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