NEW YORK \u2014 Women\u2019s tennis has a new world No. 1 \u2014 but she is not satisfied with just the pinnacle of the sport this week in New York.<\/p>\n
Elena Rybakina<\/a> took the top spot from Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> Wednesday at the U.S. Open<\/a>, with a quarterfinal win over China\u2019s Zheng Qinwen, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.<\/p>\n Three days later, Rybakina will face Sabalenka on Arthur Ashe Stadium in the final, with the chance to wrestle the trophy she has held the past two years away from her, too.<\/p>\n Born in Moscow but representing Kazakhstan \u2014 which makes her the country\u2019s first tennis player to reach the top of the rankings \u2014 27-year-old Rybakina has been a top-five player for years. She inched towards tennis\u2019 apex earlier this season after defeating Sabalenka to win the Australian Open<\/a>. Then she won the Stuttgart Tennis Grand Prix on clay in April. She owns the second-most wins on the WTA tour this year with 48, following Jessica Pegula\u2019s 50.<\/p>\n She remains focused on winning. It\u2019s a funny thing, to take over the No. 1 ranking in the middle of a Grand Slam tournament. Top players are wired to celebrate one thing, and only one thing, at a major.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great achievement, and I feel like you will appreciate and think about it even more when you finish your career,\u201d Rybakina said in a news conference, when asked about the milestone.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026It\u2019s nice whenever you\u2019re done to say, \u2018Okay, I won these tournaments, I\u2019ve been No. 1, it\u2019s amazing.\u2019 But right now, it\u2019s great. You never know how long you\u2019re going to stay. I want to win the titles still in tournaments, so all my thoughts are just for the next match.\u201d<\/p>\n Rybakina\u2019s new ranking elevates her to the top of a tour with whose leadership she has not always aligned.<\/p>\n In February of 2025, the WTA barred her coach,<\/a> Stefano Vukov, from coaching and obtaining credentials for a year after an investigation that found <\/a>Vukov had engaged \u201cin abuse of authority and abusive conduct\u201d toward Rybakina, including \u201ccompromising or attempting to compromise (her) psychological, physical or emotional well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n Vukov has denied breaching the WTA\u2019s code, and Rybakina has repeatedly stated that Vukov\u2019s conduct towards her has never been abusive. Vukov\u2019s ban was lifted <\/a>in August 2025 after an appeal.<\/p>\n He remains her coach and has been courtside during her matches in New York.<\/p>\n Rybakina was a mostly steady force in a season of relative shakiness at the top of the tour\u2019s leaderboard.<\/p>\n After she won the year\u2019s first Grand Slam in January, the major-title winners club admitted two new members as the old \u2014 well, older \u2014 guard looked on. Mirra Andreeva won the French Open at 19, and Linda Noskov\u00e1 won Wimbledon at 21.<\/p>\n If Sabalenka does not win the U.S. Open, she will log her first year since 2022 without a Grand Slam title. Coco Gauff, who won the 2023 title, had her sights set on her third major championship before Rybakina knocked her out in the semifinals. World No. 3 Jessica Pegula, who Sabalenka defeated for the right to face Rybakina, is still searching for her first Grand Slam title after spending years as one of the most consistent players at the top of the game.<\/p>\n Iga \u015awi\u0105tek, the most decorated champion in the group with six majors, is headed toward the end of a trying year that included a coaching change and a loss to Zheng in the fourth round of the U.S. Open.<\/p>\n Sabalenka, Gauff, \u015awi\u0105tek and Rybakina all had significant periods of instability in 2026, but none was as apparent as Sabalenka\u2019s \u2014 because of how demonstrative she is and how untouchable she seemed as the top player just months ago.<\/p>\n She spent 99 weeks as the world No. 1 after surpassing \u015awi\u0105tek in surprising fashion<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n After losing the Australian Open final against Rybakina in January, Sabalenka won the Sunshine Double and looked close to invincible. Then, the trouble began.<\/p>\n She lost to then-world No. 32 Hailey Baptiste on clay in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, and the wheels came off after that. Sabalenka made just two quarterfinals in her next six events. She lost two matches in which she lost at least a set 6-0 \u2014 one in a trainwreck of a quarterfinal loss to Diana Shnaider at the French Open, another to Pegula at the Berlin Open on grass.<\/p>\n