NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 09: Coco Gauff of the United States returns a shot against Mirra Andreeva during their Women’s Singles Quarterfinal match on Day Eleven of the 2026 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 09, 2026 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Coco Gauff made it four Americans in the U.S. Open semifinals.
Gauff, the No. 4 seed and 2023 U.S. Open champion, fended off two match points in the second set to top 19-year-old Russian No. 5 Mirra Andreeva, 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-2, in the quarterfinals in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
In Thursday’s semifinals, Gauff will face No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina, who took over the world No. 1 ranking with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Qinwen Zheng.
The other semifinal will feature No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, against No. 3 American Jessica Pegula. It is the first time since 1975 that the top four women’s seeds advanced to the semis.
“It’s just a number right now,” Rybakina said on court of becoming No. 1. “Of course I’m in the semis, so my goal is to win the tournaments I play. I go a match at a time. It’s an amazing achievement.”
Two American men, Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, will meet in an all-American semifinal on Friday, guaranteeing an American man in the final. No American man has won a major since Andy Roddick at the Open in 2003.
Had Rybakina lost Wednesday, Gauff, Pegula and Sabalenka would have all had a shot at the No. 1 world ranking.
Sabalenka has yet to win a major this year and her spotty results allowed Rybakina to hang around not far behind at No. 2.
Asked if she would be happy winning her third straight U.S. Open but surrendering her No. 1 ranking, Sabalenka said, “Yes, I’ll be more than happy, I don’t mind.”
Asked if winning would mean more to her, Sabalenka smiled and said. “Yes, three-peat. Sounds great.”
In the first match, Rybakina, the reigning Australian Open champ, came back from a set down to top Zheng, who previously staged massive comebacks against both No. 22 Madison Keys and No. 8 Iga Swiatek.
Per the WTA, Rybakina had beaten a reigning world No. 1 nine times before becoming No. 1 herself.
Only Gabriela Sabatini, with 10, had done it more often before first reaching the top spot. Venus Williams also had nine.
In the second match, Andreeva, the French Open champion, made it a point to pick on Gauff’s forehand early on, distributing more than 70% of her shots to that wing in the first set. Andreeva closed out the first set with a service winner up the T.
Gauff broke for 3-2 in the second set when the Russian sailed a backhand long on the second break point.
After winning the second set in a breaker, Gauff broke for 2-1 in the third with a backhand volley winner. She broke again and then closed it out on her serve when Andreeva hit a volley wide on the second match point.
“Andreeva totally collapsed there in the final set,” said ESPN’s Mary Joe Fernandez on air. “But credit to Coco Gauff.”
Gauff committed 40 unforced errors in the first two sets and just two in third.
“I think I just had to reset,” she said on court. “I came out not feeling the ball, giving her too many free points and Mirra was playing a great level.”
Leave a comment