Elena Rybakina Defeats Coco Gauff to Reach US Open Final
Elena Rybakina rode out Coco Gauff’s storm, then blew her away.
The Kazakh, chasing a third major title, survived a raucous night on Arthur Ashe Stadium to beat the home favourite 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 and book a US Open final against defending champion Aryna Sabalenka. It will be a reprise of this year’s Australian Open final, which Rybakina also won in three sets.
Gauff starts fast, New York roars
For a set, this was Gauff’s court, Gauff’s night, Gauff’s tournament.
She soaked up Rybakina’s first-strike power, dug in on the baseline and forced the Wimbledon champion to hit one more ball, then another, then another. The errors came. The sixth game of the opener went Gauff’s way as she broke serve, and the stadium – with former first lady Michelle Obama in the stands – responded as if it were a title won, not just a set.
Gauff held her nerve to close it out 6-3, feeding off the noise, the chants, the sense that New York was ready to carry her to another final.
Then the match changed.
Rybakina wrests control
Rybakina didn’t find magic. She simply tightened the screws.
Gauff’s level dipped just enough in the second set. A loose game here, a short second serve there, and Rybakina pounced, turning Gauff’s “relentless” into “overpressed.” The fourth seed’s mistakes mounted, and Rybakina, suddenly cleaner off both wings, broke through and dragged the contest back to level terms at one set all.
The roar dulled. Arthur Ashe fell quieter as Rybakina’s heavy, flat groundstrokes began to dictate the rallies. Gauff was still sprinting, still defending, still counter-punching, but the American no longer looked in charge of the script.
By the decider, Rybakina was the one setting the terms.
She broke to move 5-3 ahead in the third, her power now fully in command. One more hold and she would be through.
Gauff, to her credit, refused to fold. She broke back, igniting one last surge of belief in the stands. The comeback flickered into life.
It didn’t last.
Serving to stay in the match, Gauff faltered again. Rybakina stepped in, hammered away at the baseline, and secured the decisive break to close out a hard, hostile, deeply impressive win.
On Sunday (AEST), she will walk into another major final against the same opponent she outlasted in Melbourne. This time, the stakes in New York are layered: Sabalenka’s title defence against Rybakina’s push for a third slam and a growing rivalry at the very top of the women’s game.
Sabalenka smashes through Pegula
Waiting for Rybakina is a top seed with a familiar look in her eye.
Aryna Sabalenka dismissed Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 earlier in the day, moving within one victory of a rare third straight US Open crown. The scoreline tells a story of control; the match itself began with something closer to rage.
Sabalenka simmered through the early games. She barked at herself, slapped her racquet on the court after a double fault in the ninth game, and later hurled it to the ground as Pegula held for 5-5. The American had saved an early break point with a crisp forehand winner and was hanging on, as she so often does, with stubborn consistency.
Then Sabalenka hit her stride.
She broke Pegula from the baseline on set point, ripping through the ball with the kind of conviction that has defined her New York dominance. Once she had that first set in her pocket, the match belonged to her.
The numbers backed it up: 29 winners, seven aces, and a closing flurry that Pegula simply could not blunt. The third seed, runner-up here in 2024 and still searching for a first major, saw errors seep into her game in the second set as Sabalenka’s weight of shot pinned her deeper and deeper.
Pegula’s assessment was blunt.
“She played insane. She played a super-high level,” she said, admitting she wasn’t sure there was much she could have done to change the outcome.
Sabalenka, who had lost her previous meeting with Pegula in the Berlin semifinals in June, knew how sharp she needed to be.
“I was so desperate for the win, I wanted it badly,” she said, describing the clarity she felt in the biggest moments. “I felt like whatever decision I would make, it is the right decision. I would definitely say that against Jess probably today, compared to the last matches we played, it was definitely the better level from me.”
That level now meets Rybakina’s resolve.
One is chasing history in New York, the other tightening her grip on the sport’s biggest stages. They’ve already gone three sets in one major final this year.
The only real question left: who blinks first this time?
