Tennis-Rybakina claims top ranking with win over Zheng, Gauff eyes US Open semis

Tennis - U.S. Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 9, 2026 Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina celebrates winning her quarter final match against China's Qinwen Zheng IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Robert Deutsch

NEW YORK, Sept ⁠9 (Reuters) - Elena Rybakina ensured she will leave Flushing Meadows as the ⁠new world number one with a comprehensive win over Zheng Qinwen ‌on Wednesday, reaching the U.S. Open semi-finals for the first time, as 2023 champion Coco Gauff got her quarter-final underway.

The early programme kicked off barely eight hours after Ben Shelton beat Carlos ​Alcaraz in a five-set thriller that finished at ⁠3:33 a.m.,breaking the record for ⁠the latest ever finish at the U.S. Open.

Zheng had cultivated a reputation as ⁠one ‌of the tournament's finest comeback artists but ran out of gas against Rybakina, losing 3-6 6-1 6-4 as the Kazakh chipped away at ⁠her defences after overcoming early mistakes.

"It's tough to find ​words," said Rybakina, who ‌dethroned Aryna Sabalenka at the top of the rankings."It wasn't maybe ⁠the highest level ​but I'm glad I pushed through."

U.S. fan favourite Gauff was playing fifth seed Mirra Andreeva, looking to improve her 4-5 record over top-10 opponents this season.

Gauff has beaten ⁠the Russian in all five of their previous ​encounters, most recently in Rome this year.

After the gruelling Alcaraz-Shelton affair that stretched into the early hours, organiserswill prepare to brew extra coffee again when the men's ⁠top seed Alexander Zverev closes out Wednesday's night session against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.

The German has been responsible for a couple of the very late finishes so far this year at Flushing Meadows, starting his campaign with two ​back-to-back five-set matches.

Van de Zandschulp has earned a reputation ⁠as a capable dragon slayer after he beat Alcaraz at the 2024 U.S. ​Open and Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells last ‌year.

Zverev and Van de Zandschulp will take ​to the court after a quarter-final between Russian KarenKhachanov and Belgian Alexander Blockx.

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)

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网球——美国网球公开赛——美国纽约法拉盛草地网球场——2026年9月9日，哈萨克斯坦选手埃琳娜·莱巴金娜庆祝战胜中国选手郑琴文赢得四分之一决赛。（图片来自路透社/罗伯特·德意志）

纽约，9 月 9 日（路透社）——周三，埃琳娜·莱巴金娜 (Elena Rybakina) 以压倒性优势战胜郑琴文 (Zheng Qinwen)，确保自己将以新的世界第一的身份离开法拉盛草地网球场，并首次晋级美国网球公开赛半决赛。与此同时，2023 年冠军科科·高芙 (Coco Gauff) 开始了她的四分之一决赛。

早场比赛在贝恩·谢尔顿以五盘大战击败卡洛斯·阿尔卡拉斯后不到八小时就开始了，这场比赛于凌晨 3 点 33 分结束，打破了美国网球公开赛最晚结束的纪录。

郑在比赛中展现出了极强的逆转能力，被誉为该赛事中最优秀的逆转选手之一，但在与莱巴金娜的比赛中却后劲不足，最终以 3-6 6-1 6-4 的比分落败。哈萨克斯坦选手莱巴金娜在克服了早期的失误后，逐渐瓦解了郑的防线。

“我很难用语言来形容，”莱巴金娜说道，她刚刚取代萨巴伦卡登上了世界排名第一的宝座。“这或许不是最高水平，但我很高兴我坚持了下来。”

美国球迷最喜爱的选手高芙将对阵五号种子米拉·安德烈耶娃，力图提升她本赛季对阵世界前十选手4胜5负的战绩。

高芙在前五次交锋中全部击败了这位俄罗斯选手，最近一次是在今年的罗马。

在阿尔卡拉斯与谢尔顿鏖战至凌晨之后，当男子头号种子亚历山大·兹维列夫在周三晚间对阵荷兰选手博蒂克·范德赞德舒尔普的比赛中结束比赛时，组织者们将准备再次煮上额外的咖啡。

今年到目前为止，德国选手在法拉盛草地网球公开赛上打出了几场非常晚的比赛，他的赛季开局就是连续两场五盘大战。

范德赞德舒尔普在 2024 年美国网球公开赛上击败阿尔卡拉斯，并在去年的印第安维尔斯大师赛上击败诺瓦克·德约科维奇，赢得了“屠龙勇士”的美誉。

兹维列夫和范德赞德舒尔普将在俄罗斯选手卡伦·哈恰诺夫和比利时选手亚历山大·布洛克斯之间的四分之一决赛之后出场。

（纽约 Amy Tennery 报道；Clare Fallon 编辑）

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