Aryna Sabalenka will take on Elena Rybakina in the women’s final of the US Open in what will be all but a battle for the world No.1.
Regardless of the result in Sunday’s (AEST) final, Rybakina will on Monday officially end Sabalanka’s 99-week run as world No.1, although fan sentiment is it would be hollow if she loses the final.
Elena Rybakina beat Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final in January. Getty
And she has a tough ask to do so. Sabalenka looked back to her best – particularly in the second set – as she dismantled Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 in their semi final on Friday.
By contrast, Rybakina had to come back from a set down against Coco Gauff, eventually prevailing 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Rybakina beat Sabalanka in the final of the Australian Open in January, but Sabalenka has won both their subsequent meetings at Indian Wells and Miami.
Gauff more or less controlled the first set before the match heated up in the second.
Rybakina got an early break in the second and looked in control before Gauff got the break back. At 5-4 and 15-all, Gauff looked as if she was put off by the loud rattling of drinking glasses echoing through the silences of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
She missed a forehand well over the baseline to give Rybakina a sniff at 15-30, before presenting the set on a silver platter with a double fault as the glasses continued to rattle, and sealed it with a forehand error that found the net.
The third set remained on serve until the eighth game when Gauff made two rare backhand errors to all but gift Rybakina the break.
With Rybakina serving for the match, Gauff suddenly found another gear and forced the Kazakh into several costly errors that allowed her to break back.
Before that, the partisan crowd had gone relatively silent, but roared as one as Gauff brought herself back into the match.
But it was not to be – in her own service game, Gauff made another couple of errors, before Rybakina brought up match point with a brilliant drop shot.
The match ended with another Gauff error. She had Rybakina on the run chasing a lob she did well to get back over, but instead of burying it, Gauff sent it long of the baseline.
Elena Rybakina needed three sets to get past Coco Gauff. AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth
In the first match, neither player was really able to take a hold of the opening set until Sabalenka broke Pegula’s serve to clinch it.
The early games in the second set looked as if they were following a similar trend until the Belarusian put her foot down in the fourth game.
From there on it was virtually one-way traffic. The former world No.1 was in control for the rest of the match on her way to a comfortable victory.
In her courtside interview, Sabalenka revealed she basically crashed a private party in order to prepare for the match.
Sabalenka is known for trying to eat breakfast and dinner at the same places ahead of matches in order to give herself the simplest preparation, which allows her to keep a clear mind.
“I have my favourite breakfast, I have my dinner (that) has to be done – even like last night they had a private event, but because I have my ritual they really squeezed me in,” she said in her courtside interview.
“I felt like I really broke into someone else’s party, but thank you … for squeezing us in. My routine really means a lot to me.”
Sabalenka belted 29 winners to Pegula’s 12, which turned their third straight meeting at the pointy end of the US Open into a rout. Sabalenka beat Pegula in the 2024 final and 2025 semifinal, although both matches were tight.
Sabalenka is now on a 19-match US Open win streak dating back to her loss to Gauff in the 2023 final.
It was the first time since Wimbledon in 2009 the top-four women’s seeds had made it to the semifinals of a slam, and the first time since 1975 it had happened at Flushing Meadows.