In the final of the US Open Grand Slam tennis tournament, Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka and Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina will face off on Saturday.
Earlier, in the women’s singles semifinal held on Friday, defending champion and world No. 1 Sabalenka defeated third-seeded American Jessica Pegula in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2.
With this, Sabalenka has advanced to the US Open final for the fourth consecutive time. Overall, this is her ninth Grand Slam final.
With this, Sabalenka has defeated Pegula at the US Open for the third consecutive year. She has also extended her head-to-head lead to 10-4.
In the other semifinal, Australian Open reigning champion and world No. 2 Rybakina knocked out American Coco Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam champion and the No. 4 seed, in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Following this victory, Rybakina has qualified for the US Open final for the first time. This was the third time Rybakina and Gauff have faced each other, and Rybakina now leads with her second win. For the Australian Open champion Rybakina, this is her second Grand Slam final of the year.
Head-to-head: Sabalenka and Rybakina, who will meet in the final, will face each other for the 18th time overall. In their previous meetings, Sabalenka leads with 10 wins.
This is the third time they are meeting in a Grand Slam final. Before this, they had faced each other twice in the Australian Open final, with Sabalenka (2023) and Rybakina (2026) winning once each.
Likewise, this is the third final they are playing against each other this year. Rybakina won at the Australian Open, and Sabalenka won at the Indian Wells Open.
1
In the Open Era, Sabalenka became the first player to reach the final of eight consecutive hard-court Grand Slam tournaments. Until now, the most anyone had managed was seven consecutive hard-court Grand Slam finals, achieved by Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, and Novak Djokovic.
6
Sabalenka became the 6th player to qualify for the US Open final four or more times in a row. Evonne Goolagong, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Serena Williams are the first five.
5
Rybakina became the 5th player to reach the finals at both the Australian Open and the US Open in the same season. Justine Henin (2006), Victoria Azarenka (2012-13), Angelique Kerber (2016), and Aryna Sabalenka (2023-26) are the first four.
2
For the first time since 1994, the same two competitors will face each other in the finals of both the Australian Open and the US Open in the same year. Before this, Steffi Graf and Arantxa Vicario met in this way in that year. Steffi won the Australian Open, and Arantxa won the US Open.
