Rybakina Secures World No. 1 and Faces Sabalenka for the US Open Title
The Kazakh came from a set down to beat Coco Gauff and will meet the woman she is replacing at the top of the rankings in Saturday's final.
Elena Rybakina will play Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday's US Open final after both won their semi-finals in New York on Thursday, setting up a title match between the new world No. 1 and the player whose 99-week reign at the top she has just ended.
Rybakina recovered from losing the first set to beat Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Sabalenka, the top seed and two-time defending champion, beat Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2.
How the week unfolded
When Rybakina met Naomi Osaka in the fourth round, she led the live rankings but still needed to keep winning to turn that position into the official No. 1. She did. Reaching the semi-finals put the ranking beyond Sabalenka's reach, so Rybakina will go top when the list is next published after the tournament.
Her semi-final against Gauff showed why the climb has not been simple. Gauff, the 2023 champion, took the first set in 38 minutes and served four aces in it. Rybakina then fell 4-1 behind in the second before levelling at 4-4 and taking the set, and she held her nerve through a tight decider.
Afterwards she admitted she "didn't really perform well in the middle of the season", which makes ending it at the top of the sport all the more striking.
Sabalenka's semi-final was far more straightforward. She struck 29 winners, won 14 of 19 points on Pegula's second serve and faced only one break point.
Why it matters
This is the final the rankings said should happen. For the first time at the US Open since 1975, the top four seeds all reached the women's semi-finals, and the two strongest came through.
It also carries two separate stakes. Sabalenka is playing to extend a remarkable record in New York. Rybakina is playing to show that her rise to No. 1 rests on winning the biggest titles, not only on consistency across a season.
There is history between them, too. The pair met in the 2023 Australian Open final, which Sabalenka won for her first Grand Slam title.
- Rybakina: the 2022 Wimbledon champion, who represents Kazakhstan, is set to become world No. 1 for the first time.
- Sabalenka: champion in 2024 and 2025, and unbeaten in 19 US Open matches since losing the 2023 final to Gauff.
- The record: a third straight title would make Sabalenka the first woman to achieve it since Serena Williams won in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
- The ranking: Rybakina takes over at No. 1 whatever happens on Saturday.
The men's draw
The men's semi-finals take place on Friday. Top seed Alexander Zverev faces Karen Khachanov, while Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe meet in the other match. Shelton reached that stage by ending Carlos Alcaraz's title defence in a quarter-final that finished at 3.33am, the latest finish in the tournament's history.
With Alcaraz gone and an American guaranteed a place in Sunday's final, the men's event has taken on a very different shape from the one expected at the start of the fortnight.
Outlook
Saturday's final pits two of the biggest servers in the women's game against each other, the kind of contest that is often settled by a handful of return games. Sabalenka brings the momentum of a long unbeaten run in New York. Rybakina brings the confidence of a player who has just reached the summit and came through a difficult semi-final to get there.
Whoever lifts the trophy, the last Grand Slam of the season will end with the rankings and the results telling the same story about who leads women's tennis.
Image: Ocoudis via Wikimedia Commons, CC0