EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsElena Rybakina is headed to the US Open semifinals and to the top of the women's tennis rankings.Rybakina bested Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday, guaranteeing she will become No. 1 in the WTA rankings.The Australian Open champion will face No. 4 Coco Gauff or No. 5 Mirra Andreeva on Thursday. Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka faces No. 3 Jessica Pegula on Thursday as the US Open becomes the first major since the 2013 French Open to have four top seeds in the semifinals.But no matter what happens in the remaining matches, Rybakina will end Sabalenka's 99-week stay at No. 1 when the new rankings are released Monday."It's just a number right now, and of course I'm in the semis, so my goal is to win the tournament," said Rybakina, who will be the 30th woman to reach No. 1 since the rankings began in 1975. "It's an amazing achievement, but you know how quick everything can change in tennis, ranking-wise, during the match, so I feel like I just need to focus on my game, try to recover and enjoy tomorrow."Scheduled to start about eight hours after Ben Shelton finished off his victory over defending champion Carlos Alcaraz at 3:33 a.m. ET, the latest finish in US Open history, Rybakina said she struggled with the sun and shadows in Arthur Ashe Stadium early. Her previous matches had started later in the day.Zheng capitalized on Rybakina's early struggles to get her only break of the match against one of the best servers in women's tennis and take a 5-3 lead in the first set.But Zheng, who had been playing from behind so much in Flushing Meadows, couldn't hold on to the lead, and Rybakina rolled through the second set in 38 minutes.Zheng, the 2024 Olympic gold medalist from China, had to come through the qualifying tournament just to make the main draw after elbow surgery dropped her to No. 121 in the rankings. Once ranked No. 4, she is guaranteed to move back into the top 60.She made a dramatic run to the quarterfinals, erasing a 5-0 deficit in the third set against Madison Keys in the third round and climbing out of another 5-0 hole in the first set of her fourth-round victory over No. 8 Iga Swiatek.But a double fault Wednesday gave her opponent a 5-4 lead in the third set, and Rybakina served it out to reach the US Open semifinals for the first time.Rybakina came into the tournament needing to reach the semifinals to ensure she would move past Sabalenka. Had the 27-year-old from Kazakhstan lost before the final four, Sabalenka, Pegula or Gauff could have been No. 1 next week by winning the tournament.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
