At the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season, all quarterfinalists in singles have been determined. Kazakh tennis player Elena Rybakina has a real chance to top the world rankings after the tournament, reports infohub.kz.
To achieve this historic result, our athlete has two paths. The first is to beat China's Zheng Qinwen, ranked 121st, in the quarterfinals. In that case, Rybakina will become world No. 1 regardless of other results. Given the difference in class and that Elena has won four of their five meetings, this scenario looks quite realistic.
However, one should not forget possible surprises: a nervous breakdown, an aggravation of the injury that forced the Kazakh to withdraw from Cincinnati and the mixed doubles at the US Open, or incredible inspiration from her opponent.
Incidentally, Zheng Qinwen, despite her modest ranking, defeated Poland's Iga Swiatek (8) 7:5, 6:3, American Madison Keys (24) 1:6, 7:6 (7:3), 7:5, and our Yulia Putintseva (84) 6:4, 2:6, 6:1 en route to the quarterfinals. The Chinese player has improved with each match, so Rybakina will not have an easy walkover.
If Elena loses, she can still become No. 1 in the WTA rankings next Monday, but only if the US Open title is won by one of the quartet: Zheng Qinwen, Mirra Andreeva (Russia, 5), Linda Noskova (Czech Republic, 6), or Emma Navarro (USA, 27). The 19-year-old Russian, champion of Roland Garros 2026, looks like the favorite, although the Czech, Wimbledon 2026 winner, may have her own opinion on that.
The match against Zheng Qinwen will be Elena's eighth Grand Slam quarterfinal in singles. Interestingly, she once reached that stage in doubles as well, at Roland Garros 2021 with Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Incidentally, at that tournament, the Kazakh duo of Alexander Bublik and Andrey Golubev reached the final.
This season, Rybakina has played ten quarterfinals at WTA and Grand Slam events, winning five and losing five.
In the men's singles, a final between the world No. 2 and No. 3, Germany's Alexander Zverev and Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, seems highly likely. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner did not come to New York due to injury. Our Alexander Bublik, unfortunately, could not get past the third round.
The US Open is an annual Grand Slam hard-court tournament, the last in the calendar year. Its prize fund is a record $108 million for majors. Since 1978, the competition has been held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
The defending men's champion is Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Sinner in last year's final. The Spaniard reached the quarterfinals this year by defeating American Tommy Paul (21) 6:4, 6:3, 6:4.
In women's singles, Aryna Sabalenka won in 2025, defeating American Amanda Anisimova in the final. The Belarusian also reached the 2026 quarterfinals, beating Taylor Townsend (96) 6:4, 6:3.