Elena Rybakina sweeps past Naomi Osaka into US Open quarter-finals

Elena Rybakina reached the US Open quarter-finals for the first time by defeating Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-4 in New York on Monday. BBC Sport reported that the second seed swept past the two-time tournament champion, while the official WTA scorecard recorded the match as a straight-sets victory in the round of 16.

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The WTA statistics underline the control Rybakina established with her serve. She hit seven aces to Osaka's two and committed only one double fault, compared with five from the Japanese player. Rybakina won 27 of 31 points behind her first serve, an 87.1 percent success rate, and saved the only break point she faced.

Rybakina also converted three of eight break-point opportunities and won 60 of the match's 101 total points. Osaka did not convert her single break chance. The 6-1 opening set gave Rybakina a commanding advantage, and she completed the second set 6-4 to close the match in 66 minutes, according to AS.

The defeat ended Osaka's latest attempt to add to the US Open titles she won in 2018 and 2020. Seeded 13th this year, she had reached the fourth round by beating Elise Mertens 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. The US Open's official site reported that Osaka dealt with a lower-leg problem late in that third-round match, but she completed both contests.

Rybakina will next play Qinwen Zheng, who eliminated 2022 champion Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-3. AS reported that Zheng recovered from 5-0 down in the opening set before completing the upset. The Chinese qualifier, ranked 121st in that report, had also rallied from 5-0 down in the deciding set of her previous match against Madison Keys.

The quarter-final carries an additional consequence for Rybakina. Both BBC Sport and AS reported that she is one victory away from becoming world No. 1. Her immediate task is Zheng, however, after a performance against Osaka in which she protected her own serve throughout and advanced without dropping a set.