Elena Rybakina is again within reach of the world No 1 ranking, but she says her focus remains firmly on the next match rather than the standings. The Kazakh knows exactly what is required at the US Open, even if she admits she does not monitor the points table closely.

Rybakina first had the chance to move above Aryna Sabalenka after her Australian Open title run earlier in the season. That opportunity slipped away in the second round at the French Open. A similar opening came at Wimbledon, only for her run to end in the third round. Further chances passed at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open.

The picture at Flushing Meadows is now more complicated, with Coco Gauff’s Cincinnati title and Jessica Pegula’s runner-up finish turning the race for No 1 into a four-way battle. Rybakina, Sabalenka, Gauff and Pegula all remain involved. Even so, Rybakina controls her own fate. A place in the semi-finals would be enough for her to become the 30th No 1 in WTA history.

Asked how closely she is following the race, the two-time Grand Slam champion said: “I don’t check the ranking exactly or the point situation, but from the media mostly I know what I should get, how the others should play; it’s all the different scenarios.

“But for me, especially now when I had this injury last week, I feel like the most important just to try to stay healthy, play one match at a time because this is not the last tournament of the year.

“Of course, it’s a Grand Slam and you want to do well, but you have plenty of opportunities after and if you’re healthy and you keep on playing. So I’m trying not to think about it at all and just play one match at a time.”

The injury she referred to was the leg problem that forced her to retire from her quarter-final against Iga Swiatek in Cincinnati. She was initially unable to walk and only returned to practice in recent days. Still, she expects to be ready for her first-round match against American wildcard Theo Frodin on Tuesday.

“Well, I didn’t play for a full week and we consulted with different doctors,” she said. “I’ve been doing the recovery and slowly started to go on the court and just a lot of gym.

“It wasn’t easy because we didn’t know exactly how the foot was going to react since it was very painful for me to go and serve during that match in Cincinnati because I wanted to try once more and then for a couple of days it was painful to even walk.

“But after we managed to do everything possible for it to get better and I’m glad how the process is going for now.”

The world No 2 added: I’m quite confident with the decision we are making each day how to practice what to do and, especially, what can happen in the worst-case scenario and so [despite] all these things I feel quite confident, also start feeling better with on the court, moving wise and since I didn’t play the whole week.

“I feel like it’s just a few more days and I should be very fine.”

Roger Federer has offered a measured view of the men’s singles picture at the 2026 US Open, pointing to both Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic when asked to identify the title favourites.

This year’s draw shapes as one of the most difficult Grand Slam tournaments to forecast in recent memory. World No 1 Jannik Sinner would have been a clear front-runner, but he has withdrawn because of a knee injury. In his absence, second-ranked Alexander Zverev is the top seed, arriving after winning his maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open in June.

Alcaraz enters as the reigning champion, although he has not played a match in more than four months because of a right wrist injury. Djokovic, seeded No 4 at 39, is chasing another milestone as he looks to become the oldest player to win a major. His most recent Slam came at the 2023 US Open.

Asked in an interview with ESPN whether he could pick a winner, Federer acknowledged the uncertainty around the field.

“Tough one, it’s a really tricky one… I mean, obviously, I would pick Alcaraz and Novak if Sinner’s not here,” said the legendary Swiss.

“But then, Carlito, we don’t know. And Novak, we just don’t know, as well, right now.”

Federer also addressed the challenge facing Alcaraz after such a long layoff. He said the Spaniard’s preparation would be central to how quickly he finds rhythm in New York.

“I think it depends, and only he knows, how much he’s been practising,” said Federer.

“Has he been able to go all out in practice? For how long? Has it been a week? Has it been a month? And I think that’s the difference maker.

“If it’s only been a week, I think it’s going to be very tricky. And if it’s a month, I give him a good chance to find his groove early on.

“So, he just needs to make sure he get’s through the first, let’s say, three rounds, to get rolling.

“I don’t know, I don’t know the insights of how his practice schedule has looked like.”

Alex Eala arrives at the 2026 US Open in strong form, and her opening test at Flushing Meadows is now set. The 21-year-old has taken eight of her last 10 matches, backing up a productive North American summer on hard courts.

Her recent run includes the biggest breakthrough of her career so far, a first WTA Tour title at the WTA 500 event in Washington DC. From there, she continued to build momentum by reaching the fourth round in Toronto and the third round in Cincinnati.

That stretch has lifted the Quezon City-born player to a career-high world No 18, and she enters New York as the 17th seed. It will be her second appearance in the main draw of the US Open, following a run to the second round on her debut last year.

Eala’s first-round opponent is American qualifier Mary Stoiana. Born on May 6, 2003 in Southbury, Connecticut to Val Stoiana and Kathleen Morrone, Stoiana started playing tennis at the age of four and learned the game from her father, who is both a coach and a former college tennis player.

Stoiana has reached the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career after qualifying wins over Harmony Tan, Katie Swan and Yue Yuan. Her path to the professional game included college tennis at Texas A&M university, where she was named SEC player of the year in 2023 and 2024.

She played her first professional match at ITF level in 2020 and made her WTA Tour main draw debut this year at the Charleston Open after coming through qualifying. Stoiana has won three titles from seven finals on the ITF circuit and is at a career-best ranking of world No 122.

The pair have met once before, at the W100 ITF event in Landisville in August 2024. On that occasion, Eala, then 19, won 7-5, 6-2.