Number two seed Elena Rybakina overcame two-time winner of US Open title Naomi Osaka 6-1 6-4 to make her presence felt in the quarter finals of the US Open, thus ensuring that she reached quarter finals in all four grand slam tournaments.
According to TNTSports, Osaka had already expressed herself saying that she was battling a “nagging” Achilles heel injury.
Osaka conceded the first set in just 21 minutes to Rybakina and despite putting up better resistance in the second set, failed to come back into the match.
Elena, say hello to the US Open QFs 👋
Rybakina powers past Osaka 6-1, 6-4 to reach the last eight in NYC for the first time. pic.twitter.com/NcmVpLoP7c
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2026
“Yes, I was compromised,” Osaka said afterwards.
“I mean, the last match I played, I felt a lot in my leg. Then this morning, it just got a lot worse. I don’t know, I felt like I played the best that I could given the situation.
“The crowd was really, really into it, so it was fun. It was unfortunate, obviously, but life goes on.”
Osaka spoke about her injury: “I can’t really push off like I want, and when I land, it hurts a little. I was trying to figure out ways to, I guess, minimise it. I thought if I served a little slower, the impact when I land would be less.
“I think it worked for a little bit, but obviously she broke me in the second set, so…
Medical Next Steps
“Yesterday I got an ultrasound, and then I got an ultrasound again just now, and I’m probably going to go get an MRI, because honestly, I don’t really know too much about what’s going on.
“Thankfully we’re at the end of the year, so after the Asian swing, we do get two weeks off. So I’m just going to, I would say, make do with the time that I have and try to be smart about the amount of matches I play.”
Osaka will lose ranking points because of her defeat in the second round as she reached the semi-finals of the US Open last year.
Reflecting on Positive 2026 Grand Slam Progress
However, she managed to improve her best performance records in two other Grand Slam tournaments this season by reaching the fourth round of the French Open and quarter-finals of Wimbledon.
“I definitely learned a lot about myself, about my tennis,” she reflected.
“I got the furthest that I’ve ever gotten in the French and Wimbledon. Hopefully I can continue to build on that and just play more matches with these really good players, because I feel like I need those under my belt.”
“Honestly, I’m not disappointed now. It’s a very strange feeling, I think, and last year I wasn’t that disappointed either, because Amanda [Anisimova] just played really insane.
“Maybe I’m just getting older, but I don’t feel sad.”
