Elena Rybakina has reached the US Open final after beating Coco Gauff in a three-set thriller at Flushing Meadows.
Rybakina and Gauff were fighting for a place in the US Open final early this morning (Friday), with the second women’s semi-final going deep into a deciding set at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Gauff won the first set 6-3. Rybakina fought back to win the final two sets 6-4, 6-4.
The Kazakh, who was confirmed as the new world Number 1 after reaching the semi-finals, will face top seed and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s final.
Rybakina came into the semi-final having won the Australian Open earlier this year and was appearing in her first US Open semi-final.
Sabalenka booked her place in the final earlier on Thursday with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Jessica Pegula.
The Belarusian is bidding for a third consecutive US Open title.
Rybakina and Sabalenka have already met in a Grand Slam final this year, with Rybakina beating Sabalenka to win the Australian Open in January.
The men’s semi-finals will begin later today (but early Saturday morning for South Africans), featuring an all-American clash between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton.
Shelton reached the last four after producing one of the tournament’s biggest upsets, beating defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set thriller that finished at 3:33am in New York. Tiafoe, meanwhile, advanced after a tight five-set quarter-final against fellow American Alex Michelsen.
The matchup is particularly significant for American tennis, as either Tiafoe or Shelton is guaranteed a place in Sunday’s final, while the country continues its wait for its first US Open men’s singles champion since Andy Roddick in 2003.
In the other semi-final, French Open champion Alexander Zverev will face the unseeded Karen Khachanov.