Elena Rybakina will become the No 1 woman in the world for the first time after orchestrating a supreme recovery to reach the semi-finals of the US Open with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over the Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen.

By becoming just the 30th player in the history of the WTA to reach the No 1 ranking, Rybakina ends Aryna Sabalenka’s extended spell at the top. The Belarusian has held the position for 99 successive weeks, the sixth-longest consecutive reign in history, and 107 weeks in total.

During last year’s North American hardcourt swing, Rybakina fell out of the top 10 and she was struggling badly with her health and game. She has responded with by far the best year of her career, following up her WTA Finals triumph in November with her second grand slam title at the Australian Open, four years after her first triumph at Wimbledon. She has also won titles in Ningbo and Stuttgart in addition to finishing runner-up in Indian Wells and Toronto.

Between Sabalenka’s difficult past five months and Rybakina’s resurgence, the Kazakhstani arrived in New York fully conscious of the opportunity before her. The No 1 ranking was always in her hands, with a run to the semi-final guaranteeing it from the beginning.

However, so many things seemed to be conspiring against Rybakina. She was forced to retire from her quarter-final against Iga Swiatek at the Cincinnati Open, 12 days before her first round in New York, due to an achilles injury. Rybakina said she did not train for seven days and she was unsure of how her body would react. “I couldn’t do much in the gym movement-wise, so we had to really go day by day,” she said. “It’s an amazing progress. I’m really glad how everything worked out. We didn’t even know if I’m going to be able to play or not. I have a great team. Also, a good doctor on the phone all the time.”

While a semi-final has always been attainable, the US Open has long stood as her most challenging major, the one grand slam Rybakina has struggled to perform at. Her fourth-round loss last year was previously her best result in New York. This time, she has maintained her focus and navigated each challenge.

Rybakina started slowly against a Zheng radiating confidence after her previous comeback victories over Madison Keys and Swiatek and in a contest between two of the biggest servers in the world, one sloppy service game from Rybakina marked the difference between them in set one.

But the 27-year-old responded brilliantly, finding rhythm behind her destructive serve and dominating the baseline with her easy power to quickly force a third set. Although Rybakina eased through her service games early in set three, it was Zheng who generated the first opportunity, earning a break point at 4-3 in the third set. A tentative forehand approach shot and volley from Rybakina provided Zheng with a straightforward pass, but the Chinese fired her backhand long. Rybakina immediately slammed the door shut with some excellent serves, and she completed a sequence worthy of the best player in the world by rolling through the final three games.

As Zheng’s final feeble forehand landed in the bottom of the net, Rybakina celebrated this career-defining milestone in a typically understated manner, her expression barely changing as she meekly closed her hand into a fist. This is a huge achievement that has surely secured her status as a future hall of famer, but the end goal of this week, winning her first US Open title, has still not been attained. After handling the pressure of grabbing the No 1 ranking so impressively, she will be even tougher to beat. “It’s just a number right now,” said Rybakina. “Of course, I’m in the semis so my goal is to win the tournaments which I play, I go just one match at a time. It’s an amazing achievement but you know how quickly everything can change in tennis. I just need to focus on my game, try to recover and enjoy tomorrow.”