The 2026 US Open has begun to reshape the WTA rankings picture, with points from last year’s tournament now dropping and a new live world No. 1 emerging.

Aryna Sabalenka, who was defending 2,000 points from her title a year ago, has been overtaken by Elena Rybakina in the Live WTA Rankings. Rybakina, by contrast, was only due to lose 240 points, which has allowed her to move ahead. She controls her own fate from here, and a place in the semi-final would be enough to end Sabalenka’s long run at the top, a stretch that began in October 2024, and make her the 30th player to reach No. 1 in the WTA Rankings.

Sabalenka now faces pressure on another front as well. Jessica Pegula is only 90 points behind her in third, while Coco Gauff sits a further 21 points back in fourth. If Sabalenka exits early at Flushing Meadows, she could slide to No. 4 when the rankings are updated again on 14 September, provided Pegula and Gauff outperform her result.

Elsewhere in the Live WTA Rankings, Elina Svitolina has moved up two places, while Karolina Muchova and Iga Swiatek have each slipped one spot. Naomi Osaka, a semi-finalist last year, has dropped five places to No. 18 after 780 points came off her total.

That has helped Victoria Mboko, Diana Shnaider, Sorana Cirstea and Alex Eala move up, with Eala sitting at a provisional career high. Barbora Krejcikova has already exited after a straight-sets loss to Khamila Rakhimova and falls from No. 29 to No. 36 after losing 420 points. Emma Raducanu is No. 70 in the official rankings and currently -14 in the Live Rankings, while Katie Boulter is up 13 places to No. 49 after winning her opening match.

Novak Djokovic altered his schedule at the last moment before his opening US Open match, taking to Arthur Ashe Stadium for a hit shortly before facing Argentina’s Mariano Navone.

The opportunity emerged after Daniil Medvedev’s win over Hugo Gaston, which left a window on the main court at Flushing Meadows before the evening session. Djokovic took advantage of the break, and his appearance on the court so close to match time caught the attention of many observers.

At 39, Djokovic is still chasing his first Grand Slam title since his US Open triumph in 2023, as the pursuit of a record-breaking 25th major goes on. Even so, he has resisted being placed among the tournament’s main favourites, pointing to how late-stage Grand Slam runs have gone over the past three years.

His build-up has not been ideal. Djokovic lost his opening match at the Cincinnati Open against Argentina’s Thiago Agustín Tirante, leaving him with limited preparation for New York. Still, he believes the break gave him valuable time to reset.

“I don’t like early losses anywhere, to be honest, but it gave me time to be prepared for US Open in a most adequate way,” he said.

“I had almost a few weeks, actually two weeks, to really train and get my body and mind into the right state, prepared for what’s coming up.

“So it remains to be seen. If you ask me if I’m prepared, I feel like I am as best as I can be, but it’s different, training [on the one hand] and then getting out on the Arthur Ashe Stadium and playing best-of-five.

“I’m excited and blessed to have another year to go out there and experience probably the most electric and fun night sessions we have in our sport.”

Djokovic also said he should not be seen as one of the leading contenders this year, naming Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton as players he thinks are better placed in New York.

“I think it’s Alcaraz, and I think the other guys, like Shelton, probably are in better shape than I am, but you never know,” said Djokovic.

“YI love playing Grand Slams, and I have proven throughout my career that I’m able to win it and get far in any tournament, even when it comes to Grand Slams, even when I haven’t had too many lead-up matches.

“I always like my chances, best of five, playing night sessions on Arthur Ashe Stadium, there’s nothing like it.”

Roger Federer has again found himself at the center of tennis conversation after his major night on Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open was followed by his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. For many supporters, it was further confirmation of why he remains the player they instinctively rank above all others.

That view will always clash with the case for Novak Djokovic, whose numbers are impossible to ignore. Djokovic owns four more Grand Slam titles than Federer, has spent longer at world No 1, and has won more ATP Masters 1000 events than anyone else in the sport.

Yet Federer’s appeal has never been built on statistics alone. For millions, he occupies a place that neither Djokovic nor Rafael Nadal can fully match, even if both have amassed achievements that would make a strong claim in any all-time discussion.

At the start of this century, the men’s game was in transition. Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick were among the leading names, while the closing chapter of the Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi era left tennis waiting for its next defining figure. Federer was long viewed as that player, but his rise was not immediate. In his first five years in Grand Slam tennis, he did not go beyond the quarter-finals in any of the four majors.

Once he won Wimbledon for the first time, everything changed. Over the next four years, Federer collected 11 Grand Slam titles from the 16 he entered, establishing a stretch of dominance that shaped the modern game and built a global following that endured long after.

Nadal drew fierce support as he ended that run and Djokovic arrived with historic ambition and relentless success, but Federer’s elegance still gives him a different kind of reach. As he said in his Amazon documentary earlier this month, Novak Djokovic simply didn’t have any more tennis fans to sweep up when he arrived late to this party.

After Saturday’s emotional Hall of Fame ceremony, the question remains unchanged: one of the greats, certainly, but is he the greatest?