Key events
First set: Zheng 4-3 Rybakina* (*denotes next server)
15-0, 30-0, 40-0, game. A second successive hold to love for Zheng, as the servers’ supremacy continues. Over on Court 12, Britain’s Andy Lapthorne has lost 6-2, 6-1 in the quad wheelchair singles after a tough first-round draw against the top seed and winner of all three grand slams so far this year, Niels Vink.
First set: Zheng* 3-3 Rybakina (*denotes next server)
The early proof in this match – if we needed it after Zheng’s wins over Keys and Swiatek in the previous two rounds – is that the 23-year-old is most definitely back in the mix, after her elbow surgery last year. So that’s great news for the women’s game – which is already so stacked at the top. And with Sabalenka, Rybakina, Pegula, Gauff and Andreeva remaining in the running for the title in New York, the world’s top five are still standing, in contrast to the men, with only Zverev and Shelton left from the top 10. Rybakina holds to 15 to level once more.
First set: Zheng 3-2 Rybakina* (*denotes next server)
Zheng, now in the sun, puts Rybakina firmly in the shade as she zooms to 40-0. Make that game. Five games and no break points so far. Both are locked in on serve and, the way this opening set is going, it could well come down to just the one break – or a tie-break. Though they’ll be going some to match the drama of all of yesterday’s breakers.
First set: Zheng* 2-2 Rybakina (*denotes next server)
Rybakina won 90% of her first-serve points in her 6-1, 6-4 demolition of Osaka and she’s yet to drop a point on serve in this quarter-final, gliding to 30-0. A netted forehand in response to Zheng’s return, however, ends the Russian-born Kazakhstani’s perfect record … and perhaps that’s on her mind on the next point, because she throws in her first double fault. Zheng can’t capitalise on the 30-all opportunity, conceding the rally cheaply with an errant backhand, and another errant strike beyond the baseline allows Rybakina to hold.
First set: Zheng 2-1 Rybakina* (*denotes next server)
Rybakina possesses the superior serve – it’s arguably the best in the business – but Zheng can match Rybakina’s easy power from the back of the court, which she does to get to 40-15. With Zheng’s half of the court entirely in the shade and Rybakina’s in the sun, it’s hard to follow the course of the ball on television, but no such problems for Zheng on court, as she asserts her authority from deuce for another hold.
First set: Zheng* 1-1 Rybakina (*denotes next server)
Zheng shaded the support in the opening game; the Chinese player is so popular wherever she goes. So the crowd is a little quieter as Rybakina races through her first service game to love. Both these players are used to the big stage and they’ve settled in quickly here.
First set: Zheng 1-0 Rybakina* (*denotes next server)
There are no signs of any early stage fright from Zheng – who’s appearing in her third consecutive US Open quarter-final (surprisingly it’s a first for Rybakina) – as she zips to 30-0 on serve. She’s then smart to Rybakina’s short, angled backhand on the third point … as she sprints forward and dispatches a backhand winner down the line. And she claims an assured opening hold to love when Rybakina rams a forehand just long.
Rybakina made quite a statement in the last 16 too, when she was virtually flawless against Naomi Osaka, and she has the double motivation today of wanting to reach the US Open semi-finals for the first time and secure the world No 1 ranking. Beat Zheng and Rybakina is guaranteed to knock Aryna Sabalenka off the summit and claim the top spot for the first time in her career.
Rybakina has won four of her five meetings with Zheng, including two three-set victories this year. But Zheng was earlier in her comeback from elbow surgery then, the 2024 Olympic champion is a totally different proposition now, carrying the momentum of seven successive match wins in New York having come through qualifying – and the belief she can turn around any deficit after coming from 5-0 down in sets against both Madison Keys in the third round and Iga Swiatek in the last 16.
Here come Zheng and Rybakina, Zheng stepping on to court wearing headphones, not that there’s much noise to drown out yet at 11.35am New York time. Both already look extremely focused with their game faces on.
Already today: Britain’s Gregory Slade and Andy Lapthorne are under way in the wheelchair quad singles first round, with Slade an early break down, 2-0, against Argentina’s Gonzalo Lazarte and Lapthorne on serve at 2-2 against the top seed Niels Vink. Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid play later, as do several Brits in the men’s doubles: Henry Patten with Finland’s Harri Heliovaara (the Wimbledon champs), Joe Salisbury with the American Rajeev Ram, and Neal Skupski with another American, Christian Harrison. And Skupski (last year’s runner-up) and Harrison get to close the schedule on Arthur Ashe tonight.
Plus yesterday’s other reports:
And Andrew Lawrence’s view from Flushing Meadows too:
Here’s Tumaini’s take on the match, which he probably wrote with matchsticks propping up his eyelids:
As for Shelton, the greatest win of his career leaves him with a semi-final against his friend/Big Foe. If he can recharge for Friday – and it’s a big if – he has the weapons to outgun Tiafoe, with an American finalist guaranteed. Come Sunday, perhaps we’ll even stop talking about Andy Roddick in 2003 and that Great American Drought for the men.
So where does Alcaraz’s dethroning leave him? Given it was his first tournament in four and a half months, and he was able to play without any pain in his right wrist, he’s still viewing it as a successful fortnight that he can build on. “As I said before the tournament, my expectation was to go there, compete, play in these kind of matches for me being healthy,” he said after his defeat. “It was close. So I’m not going to be disappointed about don’t getting the win at the end. I’m just happy, proud about myself, about how I fought. I leave the court with a smile, healthy, and this is what I needed.” And that’s good news for tennis – because it just hasn’t been the same without him this summer.
Today’s order of play – Arthur Ashe
11.30am New York/4.30pm BST
Women’s singles quarter-final
Zheng Qinwen (Chn) v Elena Rybakina (Kaz, 2)
Women’s singles quarter-final
Mirra Andreeva (5) v Coco Gauff (US, 4)
Men’s singles quarter-final
Karen Khachanov v Alexander Blockx (Bel, 28)
7.30pm New York/12.30am BST
Men’s singles quarter-final
Alexander Zverev (Ger, 1) v Botic van de Zandschulp (Ned)
Men’s doubles quarter-final
Simone Bolelli (It, 4) and Andrea Vavassori (It, 4) v Christian Harrison (US, 5) and Neal Skupski (GB, 5)
Preamble
Hello and welcome to our coverage of the US Open day 11 – which begins less than eight hours after Ben Shelton struck his final ace to take out Carlos Alcaraz on day 10. Are you ready for some more tennis? Of course you are!
This may be the city that never sleeps but the 3.33am finish – the latest in the tournament’s history and the fourth time this fortnight that play stretched beyond 2am – once again raises questions about the demands tennis places on its athletes. But organisers could not have foreseen the day’s extraordinary drama, with all four quarter-finals on Arthur Ashe going the distance, lasting a combined total of nearly 14 hours, and three being decided in a final-set tie-break. From Aryna Sabalenka’s high-quality win over the Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, to the two American derbies as Frances Tiafoe came back from two sets down against Alex Michelsen and Jessica Pegula pulled off a recovery of her own against Emma Navarro, to that climax as Alcaraz’s title defence came to an end, the spectacle never let up. I can’t remember another day of tennis quite like it.
And now here we go again, with another compelling cast list and plenty of sub plots. Elena Rybakina faces Zheng Qinwen knowing she must never, ever take a 5-0 lead over the Olympic champion if she wants to secure the quarter-final win that will wrest the world No 1 ranking from Sabalenka; Coco Gauff takes on Mirra Andreeva in the battle of the former prodigies turned grand slam champions (if you can call Andreeva a former prodigy at the age of 19); Alexander Blockx, the new kid on the, erm, block, plays the resurgent Russian Karen Khachanov – though there are concerns about Blockx’s fitness after a painful rib injury in the last 16; and Alexander Zverev will be working the night session once more, with Botic van de Zandschulp, but the French Open champ does have the comfort of knowing that for the second time in three slams he won’t have to come up against an Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner-shaped wall if he’s to win the title.
Play gets under way: at 11.30am New York time/4.30pm BST. So you’ve just about got time to prepare 23 coffees and then let’s do this!