Elena Rybakina took Queens by storm, dethroning defending champion No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to lift her first US Open trophy on Saturday.
The calm and collected newly minted world No. 1 notched 12 aces in the win, including the serve that put the match out of reach for former No. 1 Sabalenka as the Belarusian fell short of her three-peat bid.
“I’m obviously not really happy with the level I played today, but she served incredible,” said Sabalenka. “She played really aggressive, great tennis.”
Rybakina is closing in on a career slam, eying an elusive French Open title after wins at the 2026 Australian Open and 2022 Wimbledon.
The 27-year-old earned Kazakhstan’s first-ever No. 1 ranking, dropping just three sets in Flushing Meadows despite a lingering ankle injury.
“It’s tough to find words right now, honestly,” she said postmatch. “I didn’t expect nothing like this coming to this tournament.”
Coco Gauff's bid to reclaim the US Open crown has ended at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Newly minted world No. 1 Elena Rybakina rallied past the No. 4 seed 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in Thursday's Gauff vs Rybakina semifinal.
Gauff now advances to face Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday's US Open final.
What Went Wrong for Coco Gauff vs Elena Rybakina?
Despite the final score, Gauff controlled the match early, easily winning the first set. But Rybakina adjusted her game on the back of a first-serve percentage that climbed to 76%. She sealed the victory with 21 winners compared to Gauff's 16.
A few shaky service games in the second and third sets also proved costly for the two-time Grand Slam champion, who won the title in Flushing Meadows just three years ago.
“It hurts,” Gauff said. “I think the competitor in me, this is the tournament I want to perform at. I did perform, but the one that you want to come out with a win. It's definitely a learning experience.”
Coco Gauff Details Post-US Open Plans
Still, the loss comes at the end of a productive summer that included a Wimbledon semifinal and a Cincinnati title. Gauff acknowledged the sting but pointed to the bigger picture.
"Right now it sucks," she said. "My dad came up. He was, like, ‘You accomplished so many great things this summer.’ I was, like, ‘I don't care about the summer.' So right now that's where my head is at. I want to be a consistent player. I want to give myself as many opportunities as I can to lift a trophy."
Just 22 years old, Gauff plans to keep building.
"I'm looking at the other semifinalists. They're older than me, like, three, four years older than me," Gauff continued.
"I'm just trying to think of how much work I put into the year, how far I've come. Now I'm just excited to keep putting the work in for another year, another two years, and see where my game can take me. Hopefully it will be on the winning end of matches like this."
Tennis’s top two are hitting the court, as No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka takes on freshly minted world No. 1 Elena Rybakina in tomorrow’s 2026 US Open final.
Sabalenka continues roll toward a third straight title, making quick work of No. 3 Jessica Pegula in last night’s 7-5, 6-2 semifinal victory.
Rybakina is also living up to her new title, ousting home-court favorite No. 4 Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in Thursday’s closer.
Sabalenka and Rybakina will be the first Nos. 1 and 2 seeds to meet at a US Open women’s final since Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka in 2013.
Sabalenka is already the first WTA star to reach four consecutive US Open finals since Serena Williams in 2014, as the 28-year-old strives to pull off the first three-peat Queens has seen since Williams’s run that same year.
“I wanted it badly to go to the finals, and of course I want to go all the way,” she said after Thursday’s win.
The 2026 US Open final kicks off Saturday (ESPN).
According to ESPN's viewership report, Venus and Serena Williams brought millions of fans back to tennis last week.
The sisters' doubles return at the 2026 US Open gave ESPN its best opening-round audience since Serena's final singles run in 2022. This year's tournament has so far averaged 846,000 viewers across the opening stretch.
Venus and Serena Williams Bump ESPN Viewership During 2026 US Open Return
Much of that surge traced to Friday night, when the sisters' first-round match against Hao-Ching Chan and Maya Joint headlined prime-time coverage. That window drew 1.1 million average viewers across ESPN and ESPN2, a 17% jump from the same slot last year. By 10:15 PM ET, the audience had swelled to 2.2 million, just as the three-hour match tightened.
But fans tuning in to see more Williams sister dominance left disappointed by the final score.
After forcing a third set, Serena and Venus built a 5-0 lead in the super tiebreak before Chan and Joint reeled off six of the next seven points to steal the 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(7) win.
"The atmosphere is super special," Joint said afterward. "You're not really going to get that again with many other players."
Saturday's ESPN viewership also climbed to 1.1 million on ESPN2, a 37% rise above last year's mark. That's a clear trend that confirms what the tennis world already knew: when the sisters play, viewers tune in.
Elena Rybakina fought back from a set down on Wednesday to beat Qinwen Zheng 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the 2026 US Open quarterfinals. The win moved her to the top of the WTA live rankings, ending Aryna Sabalenka's 99-week hold on the No. 1 spot.
Elena Rybakina Fights Back Against Qinwen Zheng in Tight Quarterfinal
Zheng, who returned to the tour this year as a qualifier after elbow surgery, took the first set with some aggressive baseline play. However, Rybakina answered by running away with the second in just 38 minutes.
Then, after a costly double fault by the Chinese international in the third, Rybakina closed the door on a tight decider to reach her first US Open semifinal.
It was the third time this season Rybakina came back from a set down against Zheng, adding to earlier wins in Doha and Madrid. Her head-to-head advantage now stands at 5-1.
"It was definitely a battle inside me," Rybakina said. "But I'm glad I pushed all the negative thoughts away."
Rybakina's Win Shuffles the WTA Live Rankings
Still, Rybakina waved off talk of her new ranking, calling it "just a number."
Instead, her focus is on grabbing another Grand Slam title to wrap up the year. Up next, she faces No. 4 Coco Gauff for a spot in the final.
The 2026 Solheim Cup tees off tomorrow, as defending champion Team USA chases its first road win in more than a decade at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda anchors captain Angela Stanford’s US side, entering her fifth continental tournament on a 10-5-1 record — including 2024’s perfect 4-0 foursome run alongside partner Allisen Corpuz.
Solheim vets Megan Khang and Rose Zhang bring match-play savvy to Team USA, with Lindy Duncan and Auston Kim representing the 12-player lineup’s lone rookies.
Perennial contender Europe leans on top-ranked UK duo Lottie Woad and Charley Hull, with Hull tallying 15 match wins across eight Solheim Cups.
Captained by newly retired LPGA stalwart Anna Nordqvist, the host team counters with four rookies and home-course support as Europe looks to lift the trophy for the first time since going back-to-back in 2021.
Friday and Saturday each feature four foursomes and four fourballs, before Sunday’s 12 singles matches decide the 28 points on offer — with 14.5 needed for the win.
2026 Solheim Cup coverage starts Friday at 1:30 AM ET (Golf Channel).
The 2026 US Open has its final four, as world No. 4 Coco Gauff survived No. 5 Mirra Andreeva to set a Thursday clash with freshly minted No. 1 Elena Rybakina.
By ousting Cinderella qualifier Qinwen Zheng, Rybakina former No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka’s 99-week reign to claim her first top ranking.
Gauff scored a dramatic 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory over Andreeva to extend her 11-match winning streak. The 2023 US Open champ now returns to the semis with home-court advantage.
The other semifinal pits back-to-back defending champion Sabalenka against No. 3 Jessica Pegula in a rematch of the 2024 final. Sabalenka owns the pair’s 9-4 head-to-head record.
The Belarusian rallied past Wimbledon winner No. 6 Linda Nosková to reach a record sixth straight US Open semifinal, before Pegula edged No. 27 Emma Navarro in three tense sets.
“I’m loving playing against her, because it’s a battle, because it’s a fight,” Sabalenka said of Pegula. “I love being under pressure.”
The 2026 US Open semifinals kick off today at 7 PM ET (ESPN).
Coco Gauff survived a one-set deficit and two match points to beat Mirra Andreeva 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 in Wednesday's 2026 US Open quarterfinal. The Gauff vs Andreeva victory sends the No. 4 seed to the semifinals with 11 straight wins behind her.
Marathon Tiebreak Decides Gauff vs Andreeva Battle
However, for a long stretch, Gauff looked beaten.
The No. 5 seed took the first set convincingly and served for the match in the second. Then came a 39-shot tiebreak rally that flipped the match momentum. Gauff chased down every ball and finished it with a drop shot that left Andreeva frozen at the baseline.
"Just believing is all I can do," Gauff said after the win. "The game may not always show up, but I can control the belief in myself."
Gauff Credits Frances Tiafoe as Inspiration for Quarterfinal Win
Fellow US star Frances Tiafoe had already shown what a Flushing Meadows comeback looked like the night before.
The No. 11 seed clawed back from two sets down against Alex Michelsen on Tuesday to reach his own semifinal. Gauff said she channeled Tiafoe's fight when her match slipped away.
"I was thinking about Frances Tiafoe and how he came back," she said. "We all want to do well in front of this crowd. Sometimes you just need a little bit of inspiration, and Frances was that for me in that moment."
Gauff now faces the newly minted world No. 1 Elena Rybakina in Thursday's semifinal clash.
Aryna Sabalenka scraped through a 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(7) quarterfinal against Linda Nosková at the 2026 US Open on Tuesday, moving one step closer to scoring a third straight Grand Slam tennis title.
The No. 1 seed spent two hours and 22 minutes fending off the reigning Wimbledon champion inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, wobbling but never fully conceding in their third meeting.
Aryna Sabalenka Needs 2 Tiebreaks to Beat Linda Nosková
Sabalenka seized control early through a lopsided opening tiebreaker (7-1), but Nosková answered by running away with the second set.
Down a break at 2-4 in the third, Sabalenka clawed back to level at 4-4 and force another tiebreaker. She sealed it 10-7 in the first-to-10 format, finishing with a second-serve ace.
"What an incredible player she is," Sabalenka said of her Grand Slam opponent. "I was pushing myself to the limit."
The final scoreline barely captured how close the match really was.
Nosková posted more aces (18 to 12) and more winners (46 to 42), yet Sabalenka's steadiness when it mattered most carried her through. She has now won 10 consecutive tiebreakers at the US Open and 18 straight career matches at Flushing Meadows.
Next up, Sabalenka meets No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula in the semifinals. Another two wins would make her the first WTA player to claim three consecutive US Open titles since Serena Williams's 2012-14 run.
Tennis star Jessica Pegula shook off a rough opening set to overcome Emma Navarro 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday night, scoring a comeback win to take the Pegula vs Navarro 2026 US Open quarterfinal.
The No. 3 seed struggled with her serve early, committing five double faults in the opener alone, but found her rhythm from the baseline once the second set began.
The scoreline shifted sharply after that.
Jessica Pegula Battles Back in a Quarterfinal Win Over Emma Navarro
After recording just two aces through the first two sets, Pegula fired four more in the decider and locked down her service games at critical moments. Navarro, meanwhile, earned seven break-point looks in that final frame but converted only one.
That efficiency gap proved decisive, giving Pegula a 5-0 edge in the pair's career head-to-head.
"I wasn't exactly serving my best and I was fighting a lot of demons out there today," Pegula said after the match.
The 32-year-old now earns a semifinal berth at Flushing Meadows for the third year running.
She'll meet defending champion Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday in a rematch of the 2024 US Open final. Pegula has yet to win a Grand Slam title, but her composure in three-set battles like this one suggests she's getting closer to the breakthrough.