A day after securing World No. 1, Rybakina holds off Gauff to reach US Open final

Elena Rybakina advanced to her first US Open final Thursday night, a day after securing the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in her career, by rallying from a set down to beat Coco Gauff in three sets.

She will face current world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday's final, which will be the third Grand Slam final between the pair.

US Open: Scores | Order of play | Draws

Playing in front of a packed crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium which included former First Lady Michelle Oabama in the stands, Gauff captured the first set with the help of a lone break and 18 unforced errors from her opponent to take it 6-3. Rybakina cut down her errors and went ahead early in the second, breaking to build a 4-1 lead. Although Gauff levelled at 4-4, Rybakina broke again in the 10th game to win the set 6-4 and force a decider.

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Rybakina missed two break-point opportunities in the sixth game of the third set, but when she earned another chance in the eighth game, she capitalized to take a 5-3 lead. It wasn't over just yet though.

With the help of a brilliant backhand passing shot, Gauff earned her first break point of the set and converted to put the set back on serve. However, Rybakina broke right back to complete the 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory in 2 hours, 8 minutes.

"Very close match," Rybakina said after the win. "Super happy, proud. So, I don't know, can't find other words, but definitely very happy and proud."

With the win, Rybakina becomes only the fifth player in the past two decades to reach both the Australian Open and US Open finals in a calendar year, along with Justine Henin (2006), Victoria Azarenka (2012-13), Angelique Kerber (2016) and Sabalenka (2023-25).

She also improves her career record against Gauff to 2-1 and her record against Americans to 10-0 this year.

"I think she played really well," Gauff told her media after the loss.

"I thought it was a good match, and it honestly came down to a couple of service games of mine in both sets and I didn't quite hold. I have to look back and see what happens, but she does a great job of just being there every point and putting a lot of pressure on you on service game and return game. So, I think she was able to hold the line a bit better than I could tonight."

Rybakina and Sabalenka set up rematch of 2026 Australian Open final

In the first semifinal of the evening, Sabalenka extended her US Open winning streak to 20 matches as the two-time defending champion reached her fourth consecutive final in New York with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula.

Saturday's final will be the 18th career meeting between the pair with Sabalenka leading the head-to-head 10-7, including their most recent clash in the Miami semifinals earlier this season.

Since 1988, two players will meet in both the Australian and US Open finals in a season for just the second time after 1994, when Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario achieved the same.

"She's a very aggressive player," Rybakina said looking ahead to the final. "It's difficult to play with her, mentally, physically, because she has big game, big serve. I will need to come with all the energy I will have, bring my best serve against Aryna and make the right decisions in the right moment, because most of the times it's tight, tight score. This is where the decision makes a difference.

"It's important match, and since it's a final, it's honestly, I feel like it doesn't matter who is on the other side," she added. "You just want to win and do your best. But also, I don't want to put too much pressure on myself, because we are all very close in the ranking.

"Even if something goes wrong in the final, I still have another opportunities, another tournaments until the end of the year. We push each other when we play these matches, and you clearly can see on what you need to work more. I think that's great that you play against someone who pushes you till the limits."