Rybakina vs. Gauff. Plot twists at the end

Rybakina vs. Gauff. Plot twists at the end

Coco Gauff, who won the US Open in 2023, started brilliantly but was unable to maintain the great level she showed in the first set. Elena Rybakina, on the other hand, started playing much better after making numerous mistakes.

The end of the third set was full of emotions. First, Rybakina broke her opponent to 5:3, but by serving to win the match, she allowed Gauff to make up for the break loss.

However, the American was unable to follow through. While serving, she had to defend two match balls and on the first one, after a rally in which she seemed to have the advantage, she missed a smash.

Pegula couldn't keep up with Sabalenko

The match between Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula was much more one-sided. It was their 14th meeting and the tenth win for the Belarusian. They competed in the US Open for the third year in a row. In 2024, Sabalenka defeated Pegula in the final 7-5, 7-5, and last year in the semi-final 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

This time, Pegula stayed in the game until the score was 5:5 in the first set. Later, she won only two more games. Sabalenka served great. She defended only one break point in the entire match.

The Belarusian is fighting for her third successive triumph in New York. If she wins in Saturday's final, she will repeat the achievement of American Serena Williams from 2012-14.

Elena Rybakina is the new WTA leader

Regardless of the result of the final, Sabalenka will lose the lead in the ranking to Rybakina on Monday. Both of them have already faced each other in the Grand Slam final this year; Kazashka was on top in the Australian Open. In total, they played together 17 times. Sabalenka has 10 wins.

Sabalenka will have a chance to win her fifth Slam. In addition to two in New York, she also won two in Melbourne (2023-24). The Belarusian lost the final matches four times.

Rybakina, in addition to this year's Australian Open, also won Wimbledon 2022. In 2023 in Melbourne, she lost the final to Sabalenka.