Rybakina Stuns Gauff to Book US Open Final Date with Sabalenka

Elena Rybakina came to New York with a point to prove, and she delivered under the biggest lights. The incoming world No. 1 knocked out home favourite Coco Gauff in three sets to punch her ticket to a US Open final showdown with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.

Rybakina Finds Her Gear After Shaky Start

Gauff came out swinging in front of a raucous Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd — former First Lady Michelle Obama among those watching — and took the opening set 6-3, drawing errors from the Kazakh and breaking in the sixth game to take command. For a moment, it looked like the crowd might carry Gauff all the way.

But Rybakina, who had been building momentum throughout the fortnight, steadied herself and let her power game do the talking. She capitalised on a string of loose errors from the fourth-seeded American in the second set, levelling the match at one set apiece before seizing control in the decider.

Up 5-3 in the third, Rybakina appeared to have closed the door — only for Gauff to break straight back and reignite the crowd. But when it mattered most, the 27-year-old former Wimbledon champion held her nerve, breaking Gauff's serve to seal the win and send the stadium into stunned silence.

Rybakina Keeps It Real After the Win

"Of course there were nerves," Rybakina said in her on-court interview, according to Sky Sports. "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."

She added: "I know you guys wanted Coco to win. I think it was really a battle. A few moments went my way. In the end I was just trying to be focused and stay aggressive and somehow won the match."

It was exactly the kind of composed, big-moment performance fans have come to expect from Rybakina at her best. The win keeps her firmly on course for a third Grand Slam title.

Sabalenka a Machine on the Other Side of the Draw

Waiting in the final is a formidable opponent. Aryna Sabalenka dispatched American third seed Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-2 in the earlier semi-final, blasting 29 winners and seven aces past the 2024 runner-up. Pegula played a disciplined first set but was eventually overwhelmed by the Belarusian's firepower as costly second-set errors piled up.

"I was so desperate for the win, I wanted it badly," Sabalenka said after the match. The stats back up just how dominant she's been in New York — she enters the final riding a 19-match winning streak at Flushing Meadows, now 36-3 at the event over the past five years. A three-peat is firmly on the table.

Sabalenka has also reached her ninth Grand Slam final overall, becoming just the fifth player since 1988 to reach five or more Grand Slam finals as world No. 1, joining Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Monica Seles, and Martina Hingis in that elite company.

The Final We Deserved

This one has blockbuster written all over it. Gauff's run to the semi-finals may be over, but the US Open gets the final it deserved — the incoming world No. 1 against the two-time defending champion, both at the peak of their powers.

Rybakina's blend of flat, heavy groundstrokes and elite serving will be tested by Sabalenka's relentless aggression and superior New York record. One of them walks away with the trophy. The other has to wait another year.

Pressure? These two eat it for breakfast.