Kazakh player Elena Rybakina, ranked second in the world, secured the world number one ranking for the first time in her career by reaching the US Open semifinals, the last of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, after defeating China's Zheng Qinwen, who came through the qualifiers, in the quarterfinals. She will now face American Coco Gauff, who defeated Russia's Mira Andreeva 2-6, 7-6 (7/9), 6-2.

In her first match, the Kazakh star overcame a 3-6 first-set loss to win the second and third sets 6-1 and 6-4, respectively, in a match that lasted two hours and 14 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium, dethroning Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka from the top spot in the rankings next week.

Thanks to this victory, Rybakina will take the number one ranking from the Belarusian, who is currently ranked number one in the world, and will also push aside Americans Jessica Pegula and Gauff, who could also have reached the top spot had they won the title in New York and Rybakina been eliminated early from the tournament.

"It's just a number for now," the player said after her victory. "It's an incredible achievement, but you know how quickly tennis rankings change."

Rybakina reflects on career milestone

Before this match, the two-time Grand Slam champion was ranked a career-high number two in the world at the age of 27.

Zverev advances to another semifinal

In the men's draw, Germany's Alexander Zverev, the top seed in the absence of Italy's Jannik Sinner, will reach the Flushing Meadows semifinals for the third time (2020 and 2021) after a comfortable 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Dutchman Bottic van de Sandskolp. The 29-year-old Hamburg native continues his impressive form in this year's tournament, having secured his third consecutive straight-sets win after two gruelling first-round matches that went to five sets and lasted late into the night.

After winning his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in June, he has now reached the semifinals of all four majors this season.

On Friday, he will face Russia's Karen Khachanov, ranked 50th, who advanced after Belgium's Alexander Bloks, ranked 34th, retired in the third set while trailing 2-6, 5-7, 2-3.