Elena Rybakina wanted to win her first US Open, of course, but she had so much more to reach for in New York than just her latest major win. The No. 1 ranking on the WTA tour was within reach, and she had never reached that level before.
To do so, she needed to reach the semifinals of the Grand Slam, or for Aryna Sabalenka's run to end sooner than expected. As Sabalenka has reached the last three finals at the US Open, hoping for her failure seemed foolish. Rybakina controlled her own fate.
That meant she needed to get past Naomi Osaka in the fourth round. The Japanese player and Florida resident is a multi-time Grand Slam winner herself. She has twice captured the crown in New York. Oddly, Rybakina's best performance at the US Open was only the fourth round, which she reached in 2025.
Elena Rybakina defeats Naomi Osaka in the fourth round of the 2026 US Open
Against Osaka in the first set, the Kazakhstani was perfect with her first serve. Osaka has immense power, but even her top form pales in comparison to what Rybakina can do. No one else on the current WTA Tour rivals Rybakina's power when she is in form. The trick is to play with nuance, and Osaka failed to do that in dropping the opening set 1-6.
The current WTA No. 2 landed 68 percent of her first serves in set one, but won 88 percent of those points. She also hit 10 winners against just five unforced errors. Osaka hit only three and six, respectively, and for the outcome of the match to change, Osaka was going to have to be much better in the second set while Rybakina dipped in form.
The Kazakhstani didn't drop her level too much, but the Japanese player did increase hers. In the first part of the second set, she refused to wilt even while under pressure from Rybakina, and her hope had to increase at the same time.
At 3-all, however, Rybakina got another break of Osaka, and then held easily. The Kazakhstani was simply playing at a level Osaka had no hope of matching. At 59 minutes on the match clock, Rybakina had two break points and two match points. Rybakina did get back to deuce, however. A true champion never fades away with ease.
Osaka was able to force Rybakina to answer the question about whether she could serve out the match. The answer was a clear yes, though, and the Kazakhstani took the second set 6-4.
Elena Rybakina will next face an in-form Zheng Qinwen in the quarterfinals. Zheng shockingly came back in the first set down 0-5 against Iga Swiatek (the second set in a row she had been down 0-5 at the US Open, only to win the final seven games to take the set -- the first time in history that had happened), and could be a favorite to win the major at this point.
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