Elena Rybakina came from a set down to defeat Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinal round of the US Open, giving her a chance to win her second Grand Slam title of 2026.
The Australian Open champion in January, Rybakina will face two-time defending U.S. Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the singles final on Saturday in New York.
Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 earlier Thursday to advance.
On Thursday, it looked as if Gauff would coast to a semifinal win. She outplayed Rybakina in the first set, hitting four aces and winning 76 percent of her service points, compared to 60 percent for the Kazakhstani.
Gauff had eight winners and seven unforced errors, compared to seven and 18, respectively, for Rybakina.
The second set was vastly different, however, as Gauff's forehand and serve turned unreliable. Her unforced errors ballooned to 14, and she had three double faults.
Thanks to a service break, Rybakina took a 4-1 lead, but Gauff charged back. She won a break of her own and seemed to have all the momentum as the score evened at 4-4.
But Rybakina held Gauff without a point as she served to take a 5-4 lead, then broke Gauff to capture the set.
In the third set, the players stayed on serve until Rybakina broke Gauff's serve to go up 5-3. With her back against the wall, Gauff got the break point back to move the set to 5-4.
But Rybakina attacked Gauff's serve early to put the fourth-seeded American down 40-15, and won when Gauff misplayed an overhead shot to end the match.
“Coco is a great player. It's always tough to play against her. Even if sometimes her first serve doesn't go, the second one is so heavy that it's difficult to dictate the rallies,” Rybakina said after the match.
“I just took a deep breath, you know, was trying to talk positive with myself and just told myself that I need to fight and try to show good tennis.”
It will be the fourth consecutive final for the top-seeded Sabalenka, of Belarus. Gauff beat her in three sets in 2023 to win the trophy, and Sabalenka responded with two consecutive titles.
