Rybakina Rallies Past Gauff to Reach US Open Final

Elena Rybakina came back from a set down to defeat Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the US Open women's semifinal on Thursday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, booking her place in the final at Flushing Meadows for the first time. The Kazakh will face defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday's final after Sabalenka beat American Jessica Pegula in the other semifinal. Gauff made the stronger start, using her defense and baseline consistency to pressure Rybakina. The American broke in the sixth game and took the opening set in front of a roaring home crowd that included former first lady Michelle Obama. Rybakina responded in the second set, capitalizing on loose errors from the fourth-seeded American to level the match. Her power increasingly troubled Gauff in the decider, and she broke to move 5-3 ahead. Gauff broke back to raise hopes of another comeback, but Rybakina broke again when Gauff served to stay in the match and closed out the victory. Rybakina acknowledged the closeness of the contest in her on-court interview.