1 ranking to Elena Rybakina. Aryna Sabalenka realised she was probably going to lose the No. There wasn’t much she could do about that.
“It’s a lot of work, and yeah, that was one of my goals, but right now not much I could do. “Elena took it over and played really well, and she took away No. The second semifinal was more a battle, with Gauff trying to fight from behind in the final two sets, but Rybakina not letting her come all the way back. “I mean, I thought her level was insanely high.
1 position. Gauff trailed 4-1 in the second set and battled back to 4-all before Rybakina won the next two games. Rybakina went ahead 5-3 and served for the match, but Gauff broke to give herself one more chance while being cheered by a crowd that included former first lady Michelle Obama. Sabalenka pounded 29 winners to Pegula’s 12. She has won 19 straight matches at the U.S. Open since losing to Gauff in the 2023 final. It was already 4-all in 25 minutes and Sabalenka appeared to be getting frustrated with not getting anywhere on Pegula’s serve, waving at her coaches’ box in disgust after one miss. Pegula had won 18 of 20 points on her first serve when she stepped to the line serving with Sabalenka leading 6-5.
“I wanted badly to go to the finals, and of course I want to go all the way,” Sabalenka said. I didn’t really perform well in the middle of the season,” Sabalenka said. “Took a deep breath, was trying to talk positive with myself and just told myself that I need to fight and try to show good tennis,” Rybakina said. “I think that’s definitely — you can ask her — probably the best match she’s played this year,” Pegula said.