NEW YORK : Elena Rybakina powered past former U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka 6-1 6-4 on Monday to reach the quarter-finals, while China’s Zheng Qinwen produced another remarkable comeback to upset six-times major winner Iga Swiatek.
Rybakina, a two-times Grand Slam champion, will face Olympic champion Zheng in the last eight and is one victory away from becoming world number one for the first time.
The Kazakh dominated Osaka with her powerful groundstrokes as the Japanese 13th seed struggled with an Achilles tendon injury that had flared up in the previous round.
Zheng continued her remarkable run at Flushing Meadows, recovering from another difficult start to defeat fourth-seeded Swiatek after losing the opening five games in just 20 minutes.
The Chinese qualifier had previously fought back from 0-5 down in the deciding set against Madison Keys in the third round. She sealed her latest victory on her fourth match point before collapsing to the court with her face in her hands.
Zheng became the first qualifier since Emma Raducanu in 2021 to reach the women’s quarter-finals at the U.S. Open. She is also returning to the latter stages of a Grand Slam after a chronic elbow injury disrupted her career
Mirra Andreeva advanced to the quarter-finals after Anastasia Potapova retired injured during the final game of their match. Andreeva won 5-7 6-4 6-3 before crossing the net to embrace her opponent.
In the men’s draw, Belgium’s Alexander Blockx reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final by beating Argentine 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo 6-3 4-6 7-5 7-5.
