Rybakina overpowers Osaka, will face Zheng in US Open quarterfinals with a chance to become No. 1

Trying to stop her will be Zheng, who made a daring escape from a 5-0 deficit for the second straight match. The 2024 Olympic gold medalist from China beat No. 8 seed Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-3 to become the first qualifier to reach the final eight in Flushing Meadows since Emma Raducanu won the title in 2021.

Two days after she was down 5-0 in the third set before winning the final seven games to stun No. 22 Madison Keys 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5, Zheng quickly dropped the first five games against Swiatek, the 2022 U.S. Open champion.

“I guess to come back 0-5 yesterday is not lucky, that’s all I can say,” Zheng said.

Rybakina won the Australian Open this year for her second major title and her No. 2 ranking is her career best. Even if she loses Wednesday, she can still get to No. 1 if neither Sabalenka, Coco Gauff or Jessica Pegula wins the title.

Rybakina was too good for Osaka, who won two of her four Grand Slam titles at the U.S. Open but appeared to be struggling with a foot or ankle problem. The match lasted just 1 hour, 6 minutes, with Rybakina closing it out with an ace. She leads the WTA Tour in that category.

Resurgent Zheng goes from qualifying to quarterfinals

Zheng was a U.S. Open quarterfinalist in 2023 and 2024 — the year she reached the Australian Open final — but after her ranked dropped following elbow surgery she had to go through qualifying this year to reach the main draw. Raducanu’s title five years ago made her the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era, which dates to 1968.

Swiatek couldn’t convert two set points serving at 5-1 and Zheng fought off another when Swiatek served with a 5-3 lead. She said she was so focused on each point that she even forgot the score.

Swiatek came in with a 7-1 record against Zheng, with the only loss two years ago in the Olympic semifinals in Paris. Zheng came back from a 4-0 deficit in the second set that day to stop Swiatek’s 25-match winning streak at Roland Garros, where she has won four French Open titles.

Swiatek got treatment on her left thigh in the second set but said her problems were neither physical nor mental.

“It was more that I started making mistakes from easy balls and Qinwen stopped doing mistakes,” Swiatek said. “She played the balls better.”

Andreeva provides an assist on her way to quarterfinal vs. Gauff

Gauff beat No. 14 Iva Jovic 6-1, 6-4 to return to the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time since winning her first major title at the tournament in 2023. She lost in the fourth round in each of the last two years.

The No. 4 seed will face French Open champion Mirra Andreeva, the No. 5 seed who came back to beat No. 24 Anastasia Potapova 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, after helping her opponent when she injured her knee in the final game of the match.

5 hours, 5 sets as van de Zandschulp ousts lucky loser Gea

Botic van de Zandschulp outlasted Arthur Gea 3-6, 6-7 (0), 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3), 6-4 in 5 hours, 13 minutes, the fourth-longest match in U.S. Open history.

Gea, a Frenchman who got in the tournament when 2022 runner-up Casper Ruud pulled out with a back injury, had a match point in the third-set tiebreaker in a bid to become the first lucky loser to reach the quarterfinals of a men’s major. A lucky loser is a player who loses in the final round of qualifying but reaches the main draw when another player withdraws.

Also going five sets — though a mere 3 hours, 50 minutes — was Karen Khachanov’s 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-4 victory over No. 14 Learner Tien. Tien was trying to give the host country four men in the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time since five made it in 1995. No. 8 Ben Shelton, No. 11 Frances Tiafoe and Alex Michelsen all advanced Sunday, along with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

A breakthrough for Belgium’s Blockx

No. 28 seed Alexander Blockx beat No. 24 Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to become the first man from Belgium to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals, where he will play Khachanov.

Top-seeded Alexander Zverev was in action Monday night against No. 21 Luciano Darderi, with the winner facing van de Zandschulp.

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See AP’s full tennis coverage here

Brian Mahoney, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Rybakina overpowers Osaka, will face Zheng in US Open quarterfinals with a chance to become No. 1

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