US Open Women’s Semifinals: Sabalenka Rules New York, Rybakina Breaks American Hearts
New York wanted an American final. Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina had other ideas.
Under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night, the US Open women’s semifinals delivered two very different matches but the same conclusion. Jessica Pegula was overwhelmed by the defending champion. Coco Gauff fought, adjusted and threatened to drag an entire stadium into Saturday’s final with her, only for Rybakina to take the match away from her.
The scores tell part of the story: Sabalenka beat Pegula 7–5, 6–2. Rybakina defeated Gauff 3–6, 6–4, 6–4.
What they don’t quite capture is how impressive the two finalists were in getting there.
Sabalenka has turned New York into her house
Aryna Sabalenka def. Jessica Pegula 7–5, 6–2
Pegula didn’t play a bad semifinal. That might be the cruelest part. For much of the opening set she competed exactly as she needed to, absorbing Sabalenka’s pace and trying to redirect it before the Belarusian could establish herself inside the baseline.
Then Sabalenka started squeezing. And when Sabalenka squeezes on a hard court, there aren’t many places to hide.
The first set reached 5–5 before the defending champion found another gear. Once she took it 7–5, the match changed complexion completely. Pegula was no longer simply trying to survive the power; she had to find a way of taking control away from someone who looked increasingly comfortable owning every important exchange. She couldn’t.
Sabalenka tore through the second set 6–2 and completed the victory in only 80 minutes. She finished with 29 winners and seven aces, repeatedly attacking Pegula’s second serve and refusing to let the American settle into neutral rallies.
This is becoming bigger than another excellent tournament for Sabalenka. It’s becoming ownership. The victory extended her US Open winning streak to 19 matches and put her into a fourth consecutive final in New York. On Saturday she will attempt to win the title for the third year running.
The remarkable thing is how normal she has made all of this look. Power has always been the obvious Sabalenka weapon. Everyone can hear the ball coming off the strings. Everyone can see opponents being pushed backwards. But this version of Sabalenka is considerably more sophisticated than simply hit harder.
She knows when to wait. She knows when to attack the second serve.
She understands that not every point needs to end with the first enormous forehand she sees. The violence remains. Now there is patience attached to it. And that combination is terrifying.
Coco had New York believing. Rybakina didn’t care.
Elena Rybakina def. Coco Gauff 3–6, 6–4, 6–4
The second semifinal was something else entirely. For one set, Coco Gauff had Arthur Ashe exactly where she wanted it.Loud.Restless. Believing.
Gauff took the opening set 6–3 and looked capable of turning the evening into another of those great New York occasions where the crowd stops behaving like spectators and begins participating in the match.
Rybakina’s response was cold. Almost unnervingly so.
No panic. No theatrical frustration. No attempt to match Gauff’s emotional energy. She simply started solving the problem.
Her serve became increasingly important, but the tactical shift off the ground mattered just as much. Rybakina began putting greater pressure on Gauff’s forehand, refusing to allow the American to continually dictate exchanges from her stronger backhand wing.
Gradually, the errors arrived. Gauff eventually finished with 34 unforced errors, and what had looked comfortable during the opening set became increasingly complicated. Rybakina took the second 6–4.
One set for the final.Then came the real examination. Rybakina established herself in the deciding set, but Gauff wouldn’t disappear. The American broke back late and Ashe exploded again.
This was the moment where matches in New York can escape you. One break becomes a roar.
The roar becomes momentum. Momentum becomes panic. Rybakina refused the sequence.
She steadied herself, went back to her patterns and eventually closed out another 6–4 set.
Game.Set.Final.
Gauff’s defeat will sting.There will be frustration for Coco because the opportunity was absolutely there.
She had won the first set. She had the crowd.
She had Rybakina searching for answers. But once the match settled into longer patterns, Rybakina found the wing she wanted to pressure and Gauff couldn’t protect it consistently enough.
That doesn’t make this a disastrous US Open for Coco.Far from it.
She had already produced an excellent comeback against Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals, recovering from a set down to reach the last four. But semifinal defeats at home have a particular sting when you’ve already experienced what winning this tournament feels like.
The difference Thursday wasn’t desire. It was execution.
At the most important moments, Rybakina’s tennis became cleaner. Pegula runs into the same wall again
For Pegula, this one might hurt differently. Sabalenka has become the recurring villain in her New York story.
Pegula reached the 2024 US Open final and lost to Sabalenka. A year later Sabalenka stopped her in the semifinals. Now, in 2026, the same opponent has closed the door again.
Three consecutive US Opens. Three Sabalenka endings.There is no shame in losing repeatedly to one of the outstanding hard-court players of her generation.
But eventually the question becomes unavoidable: What does Pegula have to change to beat Sabalenka when it really matters?
Matching her from the baseline isn’t enough.Simply absorbing the power isn’t enough.
Against this Sabalenka, somebody has to actively take time away from her before she takes everything away from them. Pegula couldn’t do it.
And now we get the final we deserve
Aryna Sabalenka vs Elena Rybakina. Saturday. Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Maybe New York didn’t get the American final it wanted.It might have received the better tennis match.Sabalenka against Rybakina is heavyweight tennis in its purest form.
Two enormous serves.Two players capable of ending points before rallies have properly begun.
Two first-strike forehands that can make an opponent feel as though the court has suddenly become two metres wider.But there is a delicious subplot.
Sabalenka arrives as the queen of New York, chasing an extraordinary third consecutive US Open crown.
Rybakina arrives having just silenced Coco Gauff and with the knowledge that she will become the new world No. 1 regardless of Saturday’s result.One is defending her territory.The other is taking over the rankings.And neither woman plays tennis designed for compromise.
Author: swoosh0018
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