Elena Rybakina Advances to US Open Final After Defeating Coco Gauff
Elena Rybakina absorbed the noise, the nerves and Coco Gauff’s early surge, then walked out of Arthur Ashe Stadium with the match – and a shot at another major title.
The Wimbledon champion clawed past the home favourite 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a bruising US Open semifinal, muscling her way into a Sunday showdown with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and keeping alive her pursuit of a third Grand Slam crown.
Gauff’s fast start, Rybakina’s cold response
For a set, it felt like New York belonged to Gauff.
Backed by a raucous crowd that included former first lady Michelle Obama, the fourth seed soaked up Rybakina’s pace from the back of the court and turned defence into pressure. She drew errors, redirected the Kazakh’s heavy groundstrokes and broke in the sixth game, riding that momentum to pocket the opener 6-3.
Rybakina looked rushed. Gauff looked comfortable. The stadium shook.
Then the match flipped.
The American’s level dipped just enough in the second set, and Rybakina pounced. Loose errors from Gauff opened the door, and Rybakina barged through it, tightening her own game and landing with more depth and weight on both wings. The cleaner hitting quietened Arthur Ashe, game by game, as Rybakina levelled the contest 6-4.
By the decider, the dynamic had changed. Gauff was chasing; Rybakina was dictating.
Power tilts the decider
The pressure finally told midway through the third. Rybakina’s baseline weight forced shorter replies, and she cracked through to lead 5-3, putting herself one game from the final.
Gauff, as she has so often in New York, refused to fold. She broke back, igniting the crowd again and hinting at another escape act. But the comeback stalled on her own serve. Rybakina stepped in, took time away and broke once more, sealing the win with the same blunt-force baseline power that had turned the match around.
It sets up a compelling rematch of this year’s Australian Open final, where Rybakina also prevailed in three sets. The stage, the stakes, the opponent – all familiar. The question now is whether she can repeat the script in New York.
Sabalenka storms into another New York final
Waiting for her is Aryna Sabalenka, who earlier had swept aside Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 to move within one victory of a rare third straight US Open title.
The top seed simmered through the early stages, visibly irritated as Pegula saved an early break point with a sharp forehand winner. A double fault in the ninth game drew a furious crack of the racquet on the court, and when Pegula held in the 10th, Sabalenka flung her racquet to the ground again.
Then she locked in.
From the baseline, Sabalenka began to dictate almost every exchange, unloading 29 winners and seven aces. She broke Pegula on set point, ripping through the American’s defences and finally finding the level that has made her the dominant force in New York.
Once in front, she didn’t let go. Pegula, the third seed and last year’s runner-up, saw errors creep into her game in the second set as Sabalenka’s power and depth pinned her back. The Belarusian closed the match with an unreturnable drive deep into Pegula’s court, underlining the gulf in firepower on the day.
"I was so desperate for the win, I wanted it badly," Sabalenka admitted afterward. She described a rare sense of clarity as the match swung her way: "I felt like whatever decision I would make, it is the right decision." It was a pointed contrast to her last meeting with Pegula, a semifinal defeat in Berlin in June. This time, she said, "it was definitely the better level from me."
Pegula, still hunting a first major, could only acknowledge the onslaught. "She played insane. She played a super-high level," she said. "Honestly, I don't really know if there was much I could do today."
A heavyweight rematch on Ashe
So the final is set: Sabalenka, chasing a New York three‑peat, against Rybakina, the woman who beat her in Melbourne’s title match earlier this year.
One brings raw, relentless aggression. The other, a quieter presence with equally destructive power.
They’ve already written one gripping chapter in 2024. Under the lights of Arthur Ashe, with history on the line, the next one could define their season.
