By Janina Nuno Rios
NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Elena Rybakina's bid for the world number one ranking takes centre stage on Wednesday when the U.S. Open quarter-finals continue, while home favourite Coco Gauff faces fellow French Open winner Mirra Andreeva and top seed Alexander Zverev plays Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
Rybakina can move to the top of the rankings by reaching the semi-finals but standing in her way is the tournament's comeback queen Zheng Qinwen, who has fought back from two
0-5 deficits in the previous rounds and a match point down to reach the last eight as a qualifier.
TOP WOMEN'S MATCH: RYBAKINA V ZHENG
Rybakina has been relentless in New York, reaching the quarter-finals without dropping a set and losing just 25 games.
The Australian Open champion has also won four of her five meetings with Zheng, including both of their matches this year in Madrid and Doha.
But Zheng, ranked 121st after falling out of the top 100 following elbow surgery, has rediscovered the form that took her to Olympic gold in 2024 and a career-high ranking of fourth.
The 23-year-old fought back from 0-5 against Madison Keys, saving a match point before securing victory, then rallied from the same deficit again on Monday against six-times major winner Iga Swiatek to prevail 7-5 6-3.
"She definitely found her form and I feel like she's playing now with a lot of confidence after so many wins in a row, so she's very dangerous," Rybakina said.
TOP MEN'S MATCH: ZVEREV V VAN DE ZANDSCHULP
Zverev has recovered from a brutal start to his campaign, when he spent almost 10 hours on court across back-to-back five-setters, to win his last two matches in straight sets.
The French Open champion, who was runner-up in New York in 2020, could become only the fourth man to win his first two Grand Slam titles in the same calendar year since the professional era began in 1968.
But Van de Zandschulp is coming off a marathon of his own, having saved a match point and fought back from two sets down to beat lucky loser Arthur Gea in five hours and 13 minutes, the fourth-longest match in U.S. Open history. The Dutchman is back in the quarter-finals in Flushing Meadows after his 2021 breakthrough run.
"I think this is probably even better than the first quarter-final I made here," Van de Zandschulp said.
GAUFF FACES ANDREEVA
Gauff brings a 10-match winning streak and 20 consecutive sets into her quarter-final against reigning French Open champion Andreeva, after making it back to the last eight in her home slam for the first time since winning the title in 2023.
The fourth seed has won all five of their previous meetings, and will look to overcome the Russian fifth seed in her quest for a third Grand Slam title.
U.S. OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON WEDNESDAY (prefix number denotes seeding):
ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM (1530 GMT/1130 ET)
2-Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) v Qinwen Zheng (China)
5-Mirra Andreeva (Russia) v 4-Coco Gauff (U.S.)
Karen Khachanov (Russia) v 28-Alexander Blockx (Belgium)
(2330 GMT/1930 ET)
1-Alexander Zverev (Germany) v Botic van de Zandschulp (Netherlands)
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in New York; editing by Clare Fallon)
