American hearts were broken as Elena Rybakina silenced Coco Gauff and the New York crowd to set up a blockbuster US Open final against Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Jessica Pegula to move a win away from her third straight title at Flushing Meadows.
Rybakina battled back to upset home favourite Gauff 3-6 6-4 6-4 in a fierce semi-final showdown to secure a title showdown with defending champion, Sabalenka and stay on course for a third Grand Slam crown.
Sabalenka had beaten Gauff’s American compatriot Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-2 earlier in the night to close in on a rare three-peat in New York.
“Of course there were nerves,” admitted Rybakina in her on-court interview. “Coco is a great player. It’s always tough to play her. Even if sometimes her first serve doesn’t go the second one is so heavy it’s difficult to dictate the rallies. I took a deep breath, tried to talk positive with myself and just told myself I need to fight and try to show good tennis.”
Gauff absorbed relentless pressure but stayed strong to draw errors from the Kazakh, breaking in the sixth game and taking the opening set in front of a passionate crowd that included former first lady Michelle Obama.
Rybakina capitalised on some sloppy play by the fourth-seeded American in the second set to level the match.
Rybakina, the Australian Open champion, gained control with her power and broke to go 5-3 ahead in the decider. Gauff hit back with a break of her own but her comeback bid faltered when she could not hold serve, as Rybakina broke to close out the win.
Gauff said: “My dad came up to me and was like, you accomplished so many great things this summer, and I’m like, I don’t care about the summer,” she said.
“But, I mean, it’s the goal. I want to be a consistent player. I want to give myself as many opportunities to lift a trophy. But, yeah, it hurts.
“It’s definitely a learning experience, and I hope to continue to keep putting myself in positions to hopefully win.”
Top seed Sabalenka relied on her usual power to chip away at Pegula, sending over 29 winners and seven aces before closing it out with an unreturnable shot deep in the American’s territory.
Third-seeded Pegula, runner-up in 2024, started the match with a poised performance but eventually succumbed to the Belarusian’s power, as a bevy of costly mistakes in the second set undermined her best efforts.
“I was so desperate for the win, I wanted it badly,” said Sabalenka.
Pegula got off to a near-pristine start, saving an early break point with a fine forehand winner, as Sabalenka struggled to rein in her frustrations, whacking her racket on the court after a double fault in the ninth game.
Pegula held her serve in the 10th, but the defending champion soon hit her stride as she broke her opponent from the baseline on set point.
She used her best weapon to her advantage again to go up 3-1 in the second set, firing off a forehand winner from the baseline on break point, as Pegula struggled to find her early polish before Sabalenka broke her again on match point.
Since 1988, Aryna Sabalenka has become the fifth player to reach 5+ Grand Slam finals as world No 1 after Steffi Graf (20), Serena Williams (14), Monica Seles and Martina Hingis (nine each)
“I can say that I feel confident and I feel mentally and physically really strong right now,” said Sabalenka, who earned the respect of the partisan fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Pegula, 32, is still looking for a maiden Grand Slam title and admitted she faced an almost impossible task with Sabalenka in that mood.
“Honestly, I don’t really know if there was much I could do today.”