Rybakina to play Sabalenka for US title

Aryna Sabalenka realized she was probably going to lose the No. 1 ranking to Elena Rybakina. There was not much she could do about that.

The US Open trophy is a different story.

Rybakina can only take that away from Sabalenka by winning it on the court today, and the two-time defending champion showed in an overpowering display in the semi-finals how serious she is about a three-peat — which would be the first at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams from 2012-14.

The US’ Coco Gauff reacts during her match against Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the women’s singles semi-final at the US Open in New York on Thursday.

Photo: Getty Images via AFP

“I wanted badly to go to the finals, and of course I want to go all the way,” Sabalenka said.

Rybakina set up a matchup between the top two players in women’s tennis by rallying past Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Sabalenka beat Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 in the first semi-final, running away with the second set after they played largely even in the first.

Sabalenka is currently No. 1 and Rybakina No. 2 in the WTA rankings, but that changes on Monday after Sabalenka held the top spot for 99 consecutive weeks.

Rybakina won the Australian Open to start the season, beating Sabalenka, then kept on closing after the four-time Grand Slam champion had a poor summer by her standards.

Rybakina needed only to reach the semi-finals in New York to clinch the No. 1 ranking.

The second semi-final was more a battle, with Gauff trying to fight from behind in the final two sets, but Rybakina not letting her come all the way back.

Gauff jumped on Rybakina with a strong start — she had four aces to one for Rybakina, who leads the WTA Tour in that category — in a first set that she took in 38 minutes.

Gauff trailed 4-1 in the second set and battled back to 4-all before Rybakina won the next two games. Rybakina went ahead 5-3 and served for the match, but Gauff broke to give herself one more chance while being cheered by a crowd that included former first lady Michelle Obama.

Gauff won her first major title as a teenager when she rallied past Sabalenka in the 2023 US Open final, but nobody has been able to knock off the Belarussian in Flushing Meadows since. Pegula put up a good fight in the 2024 final and last year’s semi-finals, but she could not keep it close the way Sabalenka played on Thursday — and was not sure anybody else would have, either.

“I think that’s definitely — you can ask her — probably the best match she’s played this year,” Pegula said. “I mean, I thought her level was insanely high.”

Sabalenka pounded 29 winners to Pegula’s 12. She has won 19 straight matches at the US Open since losing to Gauff in the 2023 final.

The top four seeds made it to the women’s semi-finals at the US Open for the first time since 1975. Sabalenka, Rybakina and Gauff have all won multiple major titles, while Pegula is still looking for her first.