Elena Rybakina delivered one of the most complete performances of this year’s US Open, overwhelming an injury-hampered Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-4 in just over an hour to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in her career. Veteran journalist Christopher Clarey pointed to more than just Rybakina’s brilliance in explaining the result. 

“Osaka looked hampered by pain in the area of her left achilles,” he wrote, “but Rybakina’s ball striking was on another level, creating gap after gap to exploit.”

Commentators during the match also noted that Osaka rarely made Rybakina move around the court, giving the Kazakh the stability to tee off on her groundstrokes without having to work out of position.

The second seed comfortably sealed two breaks along with her dominant serve to race through the first set 6-1. Osaka had more success in the second as she worked through her service games, while Rybakina was uninterrupted. The set was level until 3-3, but then Osaka committed two back-to-back double faults and handed Kazak the crucial break, going 4-3 up. 

Osaka relentlessly targeted Rybakina’s forehand, often considered the weaker wing of the Kazakh, but Rybakina turned that into a weapon in this match, striking more than 15 winners on that front alone, out-hitting Osaka’s total of nine winners. As usual, the world No. 2 kept her first-serve winning percentage high, enviable at 87 percent throughout the match. 

The 13th seed saved two match points serving at 3-5, 15-40, before Rybakina closed it out with a hold to 40-0 and a clean ace, one Osaka applauded even in defeat.

The win puts the world No. 1 ranking directly in Rybakina’s hands. If she makes it to the semifinals, the top spot will be confirmed, and she will become the world No.1 for the first time in her career. The player standing between that dream is the comeback queen Zheng Qinwen in the quarterfinals. 

This is a developing story…