By Shrivathsa Sridhar
NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Elena Rybakina cleared another big hurdle in her bid to win a third Grand Slam title by outclassing former U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka 6-1 6-4 on Monday to reach the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows.
The flawless victory for Rybakina, who won Wimbledon in 2022 and this year’s Australian Open, booked a last-eight clash with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen and left the Kazakh one match win away from becoming world number one for the first time.
“Of course I want it. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t wish for it. It’s definitely one of my goals,” said Rybakina, shortly after reaching her maiden quarter-finals in New York.
“I’ll try to approach (the match) the same way and try to do everything I can. Fight till the end in my next match. Let’s see what’s going to happen.
“If I serve as well as I did today, I think I have all the chances. I’ll try my best. Hopefully it’s going to go my way.”
Second seed Rybakina raced through the opening set in 22 minutes, converting two of her three break-point opportunities before sealing it with a booming serve to leave two-times New York champion Osaka on the ropes at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“I didn’t expect that. I thought I played really well, I was feeling the ball well,” added Rybakina.
“Naomi’s a tough opponent. I knew that no matter the score I needed to focus on each ball as everything can change quickly.
“She’s a very aggressive player, so I’m so glad about the way I played today.”
The 13th-seeded Osaka, who had arrived in style in a fur-collared overcoat that featured oversized signage, a mural-like city scene and a portrait, showed greater resistance early in the second set, but Rybakina soon seized control again.
Osaka clutched her left leg at 2-2 in the second set, still feeling the effects of an Achilles niggle that flared up in the third round, but the 28-year-old managed to save a break point and stay in the fight.
Rybakina continued to heap pressure on Osaka with her deep groundstrokes and earned the decisive break in the seventh game when her Japanese opponent hit a forehand into the net, before she closed out the match in only 66 minutes.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New YorkEditing by Christian Radnedge)
