By Amy Tennery
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, organisers will 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 Karen Khachanov and Belgian Alexander Blockx.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)
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