First set: Sabalenka 5-4 *Pegula (*denotes next server)

Sabalenka opens this game by drawing Pegula into the net and then placing a beautiful crosscourt winner behind her, but her aggressive shot-making catches her during an eight-shot rally (a lengthy rally, all things considered!) when she sends another potential winner into the net at 30-15. Sabalenka double-faults on the deuce point with a big 102mph second-serve attempt, but responds with a forehand winner to save the break. She seems to settle after the double-fault (the first by either player tonight) and holds serve.

First set: *Sabalenka 4-4 Pegula (*denotes next server)

Pegula holds again, and this match continues at a fast pace. We’re through eight games and it’s been just 25 minutes.

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First set: Sabalenka 4-3 *Pegula (*denotes next server)

Through seven games, this is a very clean match. Both players have high first-serve points-won percentages (71% for Sabalenka, 92% for Pegula) and are playing first-strike tennis – the longest rally so far involved nine shots, and they haven’t gone above five shots since the fourth game. Sabalenka wins the seventh game with more strong serving.

First set: *Sabalenka 3-3 Pegula (*denotes next server)

Sabalenka entered this match hoping to put pressure on Pegula’s serve, but she hasn’t had many opportunities to do so thus far. Pegula holds at love in the sixth game.

First set: Sabalenka 3-2 *Pegula (*denotes next server)

Pegula is one of the best returners on tour, and she showed off that skill-set early in this fifth game. Sabalenka has an answer though: she fires her third ace (this time at 117mph) before slowing it down on her next serve (90mph) and forcing Pegula into a backhand that skies long. Still on serve here.

First set: *Sabalenka 2-2 Pegula (*denotes next server)

Sabalenka delivers two strong winners – one of them a beautiful crosscourt backhand – but Pegula responds with a pair of strong serves. She aces the first before Sabalenka nets the second. The American saves break point with a forehand that just catches the line, and then holds when Sabalenka hits it long on the ad-point.

Former first lady Michelle Obama is among the celebrities at Arthur Ashe Stadium tonight.

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First set: Sabalenka 2-1 *Pegula (*denotes next server)

Three strong service games from both of these players. Sabalenka fires a 119mph serve for her second ace of the night and takes the game. Her first ace in the opening game came in at 112mph.

First set: *Sabalenka 1-1 Pegula (*denotes next server)

Pegula wins her first service game without dropping a point.

First set: Sabalenka 1-0 *Pegula (*denotes next server)

A strong start for Sabalenka, who wins the first game with ease. She gets an ace on the second point of the match and keeps the rallies short to hold.

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Sabalenka and Pegula have finished their warm-up. Sabalenka will serve to start the first set. Here we go!

The players have taken the court.

A reminder of how Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula reached tonight’s semi-final:

Sabalenka:

  • 6-2, 6-4 v Camila Osorio

  • 6-1, 6-1 v Polina Iatcenko

  • 6-3, 6-4 v Kamilla Rakhimova

  • 6-4, 6-3 v Taylor Townsend

  • 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (7) v Linda Noskova (6)

Pegula:

  • 6-3, 6-2 v Elena-Gabriela Ruse

  • 6-3, 6-1 v Sofia Kenin

  • 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 v Leylah Fernandez (31)

  • 6-3, 6-4 v Sorana Cirstea (16)

  • 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 v Emma Navarro (26)

No matter which way you sort it, we should have a fun final on our hands.

  • Sabalenka v Gauff: a rematch of the 2023 US Open final, the 2025 French Open final and this year’s Miami Open final. Sabalenka has never beaten Gauff in a grand slam final.

  • Sabalenka v Rybakina: the former No 1 v the new No 1. Arguably the tour’s two best hardcourt players.

  • Pegula v Gauff: an All-American battle of former doubles partners (they climbed to the world No 1 spot as a pair) who are even at 5-5 in singles matchups.

  • Pegula v Rybakina: a chance for the American to finally break through at a grand slam, and a chance for the Kazakhstani to leave New York with more than just a new top ranking.

Two forehands, no backhands, serves from both sides. Teo Davidov is treating the tennis world to a wildly unorthodox style – and proving it’s more than a parlor trick. Drew Lawrence has more:

Related: Two forehands, no backhands: meet the US Open’s fascinating ambidextrous experiment

Also notable about this year’s tournament: the men’s and women’s semi-finals will both feature two Americans.

Tumaini Carayol has a good read on Frances Tiafoe v Ben Shelton, the marquee All-American men’s semi-final:

Related: Tiafoe v Shelton US Open semi-final a legacy of the departing Gaël Monfils

This is the first time since 1975 (!!!) that the top four seeds will appear in the US Open women’s semi-finals.

Fifty-one years ago, Billie Jean King was the reigning champion, and the tournament was being played on clay for the first time after years on grass. (It switched to hardcourt three years later.) Those semi-finals were Chris Evert v Martina Navratilova and Virginia Wade v Evonne Goolagong Cawley. Evert, the top seed, would beat the fourth-seeded Cawley for her first US Open title.

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Preamble

Good evening, tennis fans. The countdown is on for tonight’s US Open’s women’s semi-finals. Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, faces American Jessica Pegula in the first match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. They’ll be followed by Coco Gauff, the 2023 winner, taking on Elena Rybakina, the new world No 1.

The top-seeded Sabalenka has had a rocky few months since winning the spring Sunshine Double at Indian Wells and Miami. She exited in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and the fourth round at Wimbledon, and fell in the last 16 at both Toronto and Cincinnati on the summer hardcourt swing. She’s lost her No 1 ranking – more on that later – and went down to the wire in the last round against Linda Noskova before mounting a ferocious comeback in the final set.

Standing in between Sabalenka and a fourth consecutive US Open final: third-seeded Jessica Pegula. The 32-year-old defeated fellow American Emma Navarro in three sets to reach her third straight semi-final at Flushing Meadows. These two are familiar foes on this court: they met in the 2024 final and the 2025 semi-final, with Sabalenka winning both times. Pegula did get the upper hand in their most recent meeting in June, on grass in the Berlin semi-final, but Sabalenka has a 5-3 advantage on outdoor hardcourts.

In the second semi-final, Rybakina will play her first match since officially earning the world No 1 ranking with her quarter-final win over Zheng Qinwen. She dethroned Sabalenka, who had held the position for 99 successive weeks, to continue a banner year that began with the Australian Open crown in January and includes two titles so far. This is already Rybakina’s best US Open performance – before this year, she had never advanced beyond the fourth round.

Her opponent is no stranger to the New York stage. The fourth-seeded Gauff reached the semi-finals with a remarkable comeback win over Mirra Andreeva. After struggling with her serve and forehand errors through the first two sets, she saved two match points in the second-set tie-break then rolled in the third. She is in the last four at the US Open for the first time since 2023, when she won her first grand slam title. Gauff lost their most recent meeting in Toronto, but the quarter-final proved she is capable of pulling out results even when down.

Ella will be here shortly. In the meantime, catch up on how the four semi-finalists made it this far:

Related: Sabalenka shows fighting spirit to deny Noskova and reach US Open semis

Related: Coco Gauff draws on Tiafoe and ‘delusional’ self-belief in US Open escape

Related: Rybakina sinks Zheng to grab No 1 spot and set up US Open semi-final with Gauff