Rybakina Beats Gauff 2-1, Sabalenka Defeats Pegula 2-0 as US Open Women’s Final Is Set

It took 51 years for this to happen again, making it the toughest number in this year’s US Open women’s singles draw.

The tournament’s top four seeds—Sabalenka, Rybakina, Pegula and Gauff—all reached the semifinals. The last time the US Open had such a lineup was in 1975, when the final four were Evert, Wade, Navratilova and Goolagong. Looking at all Grand Slam events, the last time the top four seeds locked up the semifinals was the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, 17 years ago. There were no surprises or fairy tales, with the world’s top four players facing each other in elite-level battles.

On September 11 Beijing time, both semifinals were completed. Top seed Sabalenka defeated No. 3 seed Pegula 7-5, 6-2, while No. 2 seed Rybakina recovered after losing the first set to beat No. 4 seed Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. The final matchup is set: Sabalenka versus Rybakina, with the top two seeds meeting for the title. The champion will receive $5.5 million, about RMB 36.92 million, the highest singles championship prize in tennis history.

As the defending champion, Sabalenka reached the US Open semifinals for the sixth consecutive year. She was runner-up in 2023 and champion in 2024 and 2025. After entering 2026, her US Open winning streak has extended to 19 matches. Pegula has reached the US Open semifinals for three straight years, but Sabalenka stopped her from reaching the final in the previous two years, making this their third consecutive meeting in Flushing.

Both players were sharp in the first set, holding serve through the opening five service games as the score stayed level at 5-5. The deadlock lasted until the 12th game, when Sabalenka created multiple set points and broke Pegula’s serve to take the set 7-5. She hit 17 winners and four aces in the set, with a second-serve points win rate 26 percentage points higher than Pegula’s.

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Sabalenka played more aggressively in the second set. She broke serve in the fourth game, held to move ahead 3-1, then broke Pegula again in the eighth game to close out a 6-2 win. The match lasted about 80 minutes. It was the 14th meeting between the two players, and Sabalenka improved their head-to-head record to 10-4. The victory earned her 1,300 ranking points and $2.8 million in prize money, about RMB 18.78 million.

The victory also gave Sabalenka several records. She reached the US Open final for the fourth consecutive year, becoming the sixth women’s player in the Open Era to achieve the feat. The previous five were Goolagong, Evert, Navratilova, Graf and Serena Williams. Serena did it from 2011 to 2014, while Sabalenka has done it from 2023 to 2026.

Sabalenka’s hard-court Grand Slam record is even more remarkable. Since the 2023 Australian Open, she has reached the final at eight consecutive hard-court Grand Slam tournaments, including four Australian Opens and four US Opens. No player, male or female, had previously achieved this in the Open Era. Djokovic, Graf and Hingis all stopped at seven straight appearances. Only two women in the Open Era have completed a US Open singles three-peat: Evert and Serena Williams from 2012 to 2014. Sabalenka already owns the 2024 and 2025 US Open titles and became the first woman since Serena Williams in 2014 to successfully defend the US Open crown.

The other semifinal lasted 2 hours and 8 minutes, with a completely different storyline. After defeating Zheng Qinwen in the previous round, Rybakina became the world No. 1 for the first time in her career and the 30th player in history to reach that position. Gauff also delivered a strong performance, fighting through three sets to defeat Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals and return to the US Open semifinals after three years. She won the US Open title in 2023 and entered the match with an 11-match winning streak.

Gauff was in outstanding form in the first set. She broke serve in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead, then held her championship-serving game with a love hold in the ninth game to win the set 6-3. Her second-serve points win rate reached 79%, she did not face a break point on serve, and she committed 11 fewer unforced errors than Rybakina.

The second set changed direction. Rybakina improved her return game and broke first in the fourth game to lead 3-1. Gauff responded by breaking back in the seventh game and pulled level at 4-4. Rybakina secured a crucial break in the 10th game to win the set 6-4 and force a deciding set.

In the deciding set, both players held serve through the first six games for a 3-3 score. Rybakina broke in the eighth game and reached a 5-3 lead with a chance to serve out the match. Gauff fought back with a break in the ninth game to level at 5-5, but Rybakina broke again in the 10th game to win 6-4. Rybakina completed the comeback with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory, ending Gauff’s 11-match winning streak.

This is the first time Rybakina has reached the US Open final and the fourth Grand Slam final of her career. Regardless of the final result, she will officially replace Sabalenka as the new WTA world No. 1 next week. Sabalenka had held the top ranking for about 100 consecutive weeks and said this week that she would accept losing the No. 1 spot if she won another US Open trophy.

The two finalists have faced each other 17 times, with Sabalenka leading 10-7. They have met three times at Grand Slam tournaments, with Sabalenka leading 2-1. In six tour-level finals, Rybakina leads 4-2. Their two Grand Slam final meetings are tied at one win each.

This year’s US Open total prize money is $108 million, a 20% increase from $90 million in 2025, making it the first tennis event in history with prize money exceeding $100 million. The singles champion will earn $5.5 million, the runner-up $2.8 million, semifinalists $1.45 million, quarterfinalists $780,000, and even first-round main draw losers will receive $140,000, about RMB 940,000. This prize pool is also the highest among the four Grand Slams, ahead of Wimbledon’s $86.1 million, the Australian Open’s $79.9 million and the French Open’s $72 million.

According to the schedule, the women’s singles final will feature top seed Sabalenka against No. 2 seed Rybakina at Arthur Ashe Stadium. One player brings a 19-match US Open winning streak and a record of reaching eight straight hard-court Grand Slam finals; the other brings the status of new world No. 1 and her first US Open final appearance. Both will step onto the same court carrying their own achievements and records.