Key events
First set: Gauff 3-2 *Rybakina (*denotes next server)
A strong hold for Gauff. Both players have kept these rallies very much at the baseline through the first five games, with Rybakina making the lone two trips to the net so far. Rybakina wins a net point at 15-30 to climb back into the game, and Gauff’s serve see-saws with two second serves followed by a double-fault. (This will be an area to watch: Gauff is 9 for 21 on first serves in.) A 122mph ace turns it around, and she wins the game with an emphatic forehand winner.
First set: *Gauff 2-2 Rybakina (*denotes next server)
Rybakina lands her first ace of the night and has a comfortable hold. Gauff has been going hard at the second serve – seven of Rybakina’s 13 serves have needed second attempts – and that’s where she’ll have to push for the break opportunities.
First set: Gauff 2-1 *Rybakina (*denotes next server)
Gauff holds, and through the first three games she already looks significantly better than she did in the beginning of her quarter-final against Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday.
First set: *Gauff 1-1 Rybakina (*denotes next server)
Gauff is off to a strong start in Rybakina’s first service game, stepping up for strong returns and getting the night’s first break point chance at 30-40. She hits a forehand miss into the net and Rybakina manages to hold, but it’s an encouraging beginning for Gauff, who will need to face Rybakina’s serves with that kind of aggressive approach. Rybakina has been broken just four times this tournament.
First set: Gauff 1-0 *Rybakina (*denotes next server)
Gauff holds serve to open this semi-final. She needed a second serve on three of her five service points, but she won the game with a 118mph ace.
The second semi-final is under way. Coco Gauff will serve first.
The roads to the semi-final for Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff:
Gauff:
6-3, 6-4 v Zeynep Sonmez
6-4, 7-6 (5) v Paula Badosa
6-3, 6-4 v Cristina Bucsa
6-1, 6-4 v Iva Jovic (14)
2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 v Mirra Andreeva (5)
Rybakina:
6-3, 6-2 v Thea Frodin
6-2, 6-4 v Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
7-6 (6), 6-3 v Yuliia Starodubtseva
6-1, 6-4 v Naomi Osaka (13)
3-6, 6-1, 6-4 v Zheng Qinwen
“No complaints,” Aryna Sabalenka says in the on-court interview. “I’m just super happy.” After the three-set comeback win against Linda Noskova in the quarter-finals, Sabalenka says she “was so desperate for the win”.
Amid a shaky five-month stretch that saw her struggle on the hardcourts and lose her No 1 ranking, Sabalenka showed in this match why she’s such a dangerous player when she hits her highest level. She gave Pegula no openings in that second set, kept her composure even in a few moments of frustration – it looked like the towel-over-the-head strategy she deployed during changeovers in both sets helped – and now she will seek to become the first player to win three consecutive US Open titles since Serena Williams (2012 to 2014).
Up next: Coco Gauff v Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka advances to the US Open final
Final: Sabalenka 7-5, 6-2 Pegula
For the fourth straight year, Aryna Sabalenka will play for the US Open title. She breaks Jessica Pegula for the third time tonight to win the second set 6-2 and cap a dominant performance.
Sabalenka took control with a break in the final game of the first set and didn’t looked back – if anything, she raised her game in the second set. She was ruthless in her return game from the baseline and capitalized on Pegula’s shaky second serves. She finishes with seven aces and 29 winners to 20 unforced errors.
Quite a statement win in just 80 minutes from the two-time defending champion.
Second set: Sabalenka 7-5, 5-2 *Pegula (*denotes next server)
Pegula has had no luck getting close to break point since her only opportunity came in the ninth game of the first set. Sabalenka holds, behind some nice baseline defense and a winner at the net, and will have a chance to win the match if she can break Pegula for the third time in this next game.
Second set: *Sabalenka 7-5, 4-2 Pegula (*denotes next server)
Pegula gets a pair of strong serves in, including her fourth ace of the night, to go up 40-15 in this game, but she lets Sabalenka climb back into it. Sabalenka pounces on the second serve at 30-40 with a 79mph backhand winner down the line to force deuce, but Pegula manages to hold.
Second set: Sabalenka 7-5, 4-1 *Pegula (*denotes next server)
Sabalenka gets two aces in the fifth game to hold and is firmly in charge entering the sixth. Her power hasn’t slowed as this match has stretched past the hour-mark; if anything, it’s taken a step up. Her aces this set were more controlled (at 98mph and 100mph), but it’s her returns and winners that have swung this match in her favor.
Second set: *Sabalenka 7-5, 3-1 Pegula (*denotes next server)
Sabalenka’s return game continues to impress. She has been capitalizing on Pegula’s second serves, where the American is just 4 for 14 on points won. Pegula saves break point first at 15-40 and then at 30-40, but Sabalenka hits a monster forehand on the deuce point. A few points later, Sabalenka hits the fastest return of the night (a 90mph forehand on Pegula’s second serve) to get the first break of the second set.
Second set: Sabalenka 7-5, 2-1 *Pegula (*denotes next server)
Sabalenka has her third double-fault of the night, but she responds with her fifth ace shortly after for another hold. Can she manage to put pressure on Pegula’s serve and find the night’s second break in this next game?
Second set: *Sabalenka 7-5, 1-1 Pegula (*denotes next server)
Pegula holds. Sabalenka is 104-11 in her career when she wins the first set. Pegula is 9-23 when she loses the first set.
Second set: Sabalenka 7-5, 1-0 *Pegula (*denotes next server)
The opening game of the second set gives us the first 10-plus shot rally of the night (at a whopping 11!) but Sabalenka holds. I do not suspect we will see anything like the 39-shot rally from the Coco Gauff v Mirra Andreeeva quarter-final yesterday in this match.
Sabalenka wins first set 7-5
First set: *Sabalenka 7-5 Pegula (*denotes next server)
For the first time this match, Sabalenka gets something going against Pegula’s serve – and she gets the first break and the first set as a result. Pegula goes down 0-40 to open the game and saves the first set point, but Sabalenka fires a strong return on the 15-40 point and wins the six-point rally when Pegula’s forehand goes into the net.
Sabalenka looked frustrated at times late in the first set against Pegula’s serve – a piece of the American’s game that was a question coming in, but has been excellent (19/23 service points won) thus far – but she turned up the aggression in the final two games and won eight of the set’s final nine points.
First set: Sabalenka 6-5 *Pegula (*denotes next server)
With some of the frustration from the last game carrying over, Sabalenka opens the 11th game with a double-fault, but she shakes it off for a comfortable hold. She has the advantage in both unforced errors (12-4) and winners (16-6).
First set: *Sabalenka 5-5 Pegula (*denotes next server)
Pegula’s serving has been excellent this set: 20 of her 26 first serves have landed in, and she’s won 18 of her 20 service points. She holds again here, with Sabalenka’s backhand going into the net after Pegula served at 40-15. Sabalenka looks a little frustrated, and will have to hold her calm in this next game.
First set: Sabalenka 5-4 *Pegula (*denotes next server)
Sabalenka opens this game by drawing Pegula into the net and then placing a beautiful crosscourt winner behind her, but her aggressive shot-making catches her during an eight-shot rally (a lengthy rally, all things considered!) when she sends another potential winner into the net at 30-15. Sabalenka double-faults on the deuce point with a big 102mph second-serve attempt, but responds with a forehand winner to save the break. She seems to settle after the double-fault (the first by either player tonight) and holds serve.
First set: *Sabalenka 4-4 Pegula (*denotes next server)
Pegula holds again, and this match continues at a fast pace. We’re through eight games and it’s been just 25 minutes.
First set: Sabalenka 4-3 *Pegula (*denotes next server)
Through seven games, this is a very clean match. Both players have high first-serve points-won percentages (71% for Sabalenka, 92% for Pegula) and are playing first-strike tennis – the longest rally so far involved nine shots, and they haven’t gone above five shots since the fourth game. Sabalenka wins the seventh game with more strong serving.
First set: *Sabalenka 3-3 Pegula (*denotes next server)
Sabalenka entered this match hoping to put pressure on Pegula’s serve, but she hasn’t had many opportunities to do so thus far. Pegula holds at love in the sixth game.
First set: Sabalenka 3-2 *Pegula (*denotes next server)
Pegula is one of the best returners on tour, and she showed off that skill-set early in this fifth game. Sabalenka has an answer though: she fires her third ace (this time at 117mph) before slowing it down on her next serve (90mph) and forcing Pegula into a backhand that skies long. Still on serve here.
First set: *Sabalenka 2-2 Pegula (*denotes next server)
Sabalenka delivers two strong winners – one of them a beautiful crosscourt backhand – but Pegula responds with a pair of strong serves. She aces the first before Sabalenka nets the second. The American saves break point with a forehand that just catches the line, and then holds when Sabalenka hits it long on the ad-point.
Former first lady Michelle Obama is among the celebrities at Arthur Ashe Stadium tonight.
First set: Sabalenka 2-1 *Pegula (*denotes next server)
Three strong service games from both of these players. Sabalenka fires a 119mph serve for her second ace of the night and takes the game. Her first ace in the opening game came in at 112mph.
First set: *Sabalenka 1-1 Pegula (*denotes next server)
Pegula wins her first service game without dropping a point.
First set: Sabalenka 1-0 *Pegula (*denotes next server)
A strong start for Sabalenka, who wins the first game with ease. She gets an ace on the second point of the match and keeps the rallies short to hold.
Sabalenka and Pegula have finished their warm-up. Sabalenka will serve to start the first set. Here we go!
The players have taken the court.
A reminder of how Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula reached tonight’s semi-final:
Sabalenka:
6-2, 6-4 v Camila Osorio
6-1, 6-1 v Polina Iatcenko
6-3, 6-4 v Kamilla Rakhimova
6-4, 6-3 v Taylor Townsend
7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (7) v Linda Noskova (6)
Pegula:
6-3, 6-2 v Elena-Gabriela Ruse
6-3, 6-1 v Sofia Kenin
1-6, 6-4, 6-3 v Leylah Fernandez (31)
6-3, 6-4 v Sorana Cirstea (16)
3-6, 6-4, 6-4 v Emma Navarro (26)
No matter which way you sort it, we should have a fun final on our hands.
Sabalenka v Gauff: a rematch of the 2023 US Open final, the 2025 French Open final and this year’s Miami Open final. Sabalenka has never beaten Gauff in a grand slam final.
Sabalenka v Rybakina: the former No 1 v the new No 1. Arguably the tour’s two best hardcourt players.
Pegula v Gauff: an All-American battle of former doubles partners (they climbed to the world No 1 spot as a pair) who are even at 5-5 in singles matchups.
Pegula v Rybakina: a chance for the American to finally break through at a grand slam, and a chance for the Kazakhstani to leave New York with more than just a new top ranking.
Two forehands, no backhands, serves from both sides. Teo Davidov is treating the tennis world to a wildly unorthodox style – and proving it’s more than a parlor trick. Drew Lawrence has more:
Also notable about this year’s tournament: the men’s and women’s semi-finals will both feature two Americans.
Tumaini Carayol has a good read on Frances Tiafoe v Ben Shelton, the marquee All-American men’s semi-final:
This is the first time since 1975 (!!!) that the top four seeds will appear in the US Open women’s semi-finals.
Fifty-one years ago, Billie Jean King was the reigning champion, and the tournament was being played on clay for the first time after years on grass. (It switched to hardcourt three years later.) Those semi-finals were Chris Evert v Martina Navratilova and Virginia Wade v Evonne Goolagong Cawley. Evert, the top seed, would beat the fourth-seeded Cawley for her first US Open title.
Preamble
Good evening, tennis fans. The countdown is on for tonight’s US Open’s women’s semi-finals. Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, faces American Jessica Pegula in the first match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. They’ll be followed by Coco Gauff, the 2023 winner, taking on Elena Rybakina, the new world No 1.
The top-seeded Sabalenka has had a rocky few months since winning the spring Sunshine Double at Indian Wells and Miami. She exited in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and the fourth round at Wimbledon, and fell in the last 16 at both Toronto and Cincinnati on the summer hardcourt swing. She’s lost her No 1 ranking – more on that later – and went down to the wire in the last round against Linda Noskova before mounting a ferocious comeback in the final set.
Standing in between Sabalenka and a fourth consecutive US Open final: third-seeded Jessica Pegula. The 32-year-old defeated fellow American Emma Navarro in three sets to reach her third straight semi-final at Flushing Meadows. These two are familiar foes on this court: they met in the 2024 final and the 2025 semi-final, with Sabalenka winning both times. Pegula did get the upper hand in their most recent meeting in June, on grass in the Berlin semi-final, but Sabalenka has a 5-3 advantage on outdoor hardcourts.
In the second semi-final, Rybakina will play her first match since officially earning the world No 1 ranking with her quarter-final win over Zheng Qinwen. She dethroned Sabalenka, who had held the position for 99 successive weeks, to continue a banner year that began with the Australian Open crown in January and includes two titles so far. This is already Rybakina’s best US Open performance – before this year, she had never advanced beyond the fourth round.
Her opponent is no stranger to the New York stage. The fourth-seeded Gauff reached the semi-finals with a remarkable comeback win over Mirra Andreeva. After struggling with her serve and forehand errors through the first two sets, she saved two match points in the second-set tie-break then rolled in the third. She is in the last four at the US Open for the first time since 2023, when she won her first grand slam title. Gauff lost their most recent meeting in Toronto, but the quarter-final proved she is capable of pulling out results even when down.
Ella will be here shortly. In the meantime, catch up on how the four semi-finalists made it this far: