New Delhi:Elena Rybakina reached the
after defeating American fourth seed Coco Gauff 3-6 6-4 6-4 in the semi-final. That set up a clash with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the final on Saturday September 12. But whatever the result, Rybakina will be the new world number one when the rankings are officially updated on Monday. That will end Sabalenka's 99-week reign at No. 1.
The Kazakh notably staged a comeback from dropping the opening set in her semi-final against Coco, and from being broken serving for the match, to complete the comeback. “I just told myself I have to fight and show good tennis,” Rybakina said after the match. “I took a deep breath.
Sabalenka upsets Pegula in semisSabalenka made it to the final after beating home favorite Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-2. The top-seeded Belarusian has reached the final of every Grand Slam played on hard courts since the 2023 Australian Open.
“I was so despondent. It feels like a last push of the season for me, talking about Grand Slams. “I really wanted to get to the finals, and of course I want to go all the way,” Sabalenka said after beating Pegula.
As for the match, she had a tough start, errors coming in the first set with Pegula getting off to the cleaner start, but the 28-year-old flipped the match around late in the first set before taking control of the second. The 29-year-old had 29 winners to Pegula's 12.
The result also extended Sabalenka's dominance over Pegula at the US Open. She beat her in the 2024 final and also in last year's semi-final, although Pegula had won their previous meeting in Berlin in June.
“I think she probably would have beaten 99 per cent of people. "Probably the best match she's played all year," Pegula said.
It’s a bit of an irony that the final will be the first U.S. Open women’s singles championship meeting between the top two seeds since Serena Williams played Victoria Azarenka in 2013.
Sabalenka is 10-7 ahead of Rybakina in their career meetings and beat her in the Miami semi-final and Indian Wells final this year. But Rybakina beat her in the Australian Open final in January.
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