US Open LIVE: Sabalenka facing Pegula before Rybakina vs Gauff in women's semi-finals

[p][b]22:00 CET - [/b]Good evening and welcome to our coverage of the US Open women's semi-finals, and boy, is this going to be fantastic.[/p][p]For the first time since 1975, the top four women in the world have reached the semi-finals of the US Open, so this should be as high-quality as it gets.[/p][embed guid="9dea0e1e-69f2-4bfa-b2d8-6944c113fd67" url="https://x.com/WTA/status/2097792128722030762" social-type="twitter" /][p]First and foremost, the world No. 1 spot is no longer up for grabs, after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a]'s win yesterday ensured that she would become the 30th woman to reach the summit of women's tennis when the rankings are updated next Monday - a fantastic achievement for the Kazakh.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/pegula-j-KdojxrAR/sabalenka-a-vyhksgUB/?mid=4zyfwf9s"]The opening match gets underway in three hours[/a], as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a] - who is set to lose the No. 1 ranking - takes on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pegula-jessica/KdojxrAR/"]Jessica Pegula[/a] for a third straight year at this event.[/p][video alt="Sabalenka vs Pegula (video preview)" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="ace57cda-4cb3-48ef-ace7-9ba2fb014071" id="d26f1490-2b89-4b25-b1bb-9d596737f1a2" /][p]The two-time defending champion is eyeing a fourth straight finals appearance in New York, and having beaten Pegula in the semi-finals last year and the final in 2024, she will have plenty of confidence.[/p][p]However, despite Sabalenka leading the head-to-head 9-4, Pegula has won two of their last three meetings, including winning the last set they played 6-0.[/p][p]The American continues her quest for a maiden Grand Slam title, and despite not being at her best this tournament, she will most certainly fancy her chances against Sabalenka, considering the latter's struggles in recent months. Home advantage will also play a major part.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/gauff-c-f5BXmEH6/rybakina-e-UDzElXdm/?mid=EcWMiPz8"]In the other semi-final[/a], Rybakina will look to follow up her rise to No. 1 with her first appearance in the US Open final, but another American, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gauff-coco/f5BXmEH6/"]Coco Gauff[/a], stands in her way.[/p][p]There were question marks over Rybakina's fitness heading into the tournament, but the Australian Open champion has put those doubts to bed with some emphatic performances, namely in a thrashing win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/osaka-naomi/MDM4BKiA/"]Naomi Osaka[/a] in the round of 16.[/p][video alt="Gauff vs Rybakina (video preview)" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="8cb3c958-f03d-4a03-b64c-5b28cd6a7ae1" id="37de9151-40c7-460d-a8ad-eaba089fe8f7" /][p]Former champion Gauff, who won the title in Cincinnati just before the US Open, was many people's favourite to win a third Grand Slam title. However, she sat on the verge of exit in the quarter-finals, saving two match points during a pretty ugly victory against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/andreeva-mirra/lI6fOOat/"]Mirra Andreeva[/a].[/p][p]The head-to-head is locked at 1-1, with Rybakina winning their recent meeting in Toronto, and their other match coming over four years ago.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/wta-singles/us-open/"]Follow the women's semi-finals with Flashscore![/a][/b][/p]