Aryna Sabalenka powered past Jessica Pegula in straight sets on Thursday to keep her bid for a rare US Open three-peat alive, setting up a championship showdown with Elena Rybakina. The Belarusian was unstoppable in a 7-5, 6-2 victory on Arthur Ashe Stadium, where she had previously beaten Pegula on her way to US Open titles in 2024 and 2025.

Sabalenka is now attempting to join Chris Evert and Serena Williams as the only women to win three consecutive US Open titles. "I was super desperate," Sabalenka said. "I wanted it badly to go to the finals, and of course, I want to go all the way. The mentality was just I'm ready. I'm ready for whatever it's going to take to get the win." It was her best performance of the tournament, snuffing out Pegula's dream of a first-ever Grand Slam title.

Pegula fought hard in the first set, but serving at 6-5, she buckled under pressure and fell behind 0-40. She saved one set point but could not salvage the next. Sabalenka kept rolling in the second set, attacking Pegula's suspect second serve and seizing a break for a 3-1 lead with a laser forehand into the corner. She sealed the victory with another break courtesy of another thunderous forehand. "I thought her level was insanely high," Pegula said. "Honestly, I don't really know if there was much I could do today."

In the other semifinal, Elena Rybakina battled back to beat 2023 champion Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Gauff took the opening set, but Rybakina hit back with an early break in the second and led 4-1. In the third, Rybakina broke Gauff for a 5-3 lead. Gauff broke back, but Rybakina clinched it in the next game. "I feel like I was a little bit lucky on her serve," Rybakina said. "A couple of deep returns, one mistake from her, it went quickly my way … It was a real battle."

Gauff reflected on the fine margins: "It honestly came down to a couple of service games of mine in both sets and I didn't quite hold. I think she was able to hold the line a bit better than I could tonight." Rybakina, who beat Sabalenka in the Australian Open final in January, said she would need to raise her level: "I feel like I definitely need to step my game up, serve much better than today and stay aggressive."

The men's semifinals are on Friday, when eighth-seeded Ben Shelton takes on 11th seed Frances Tiafoe in an all-American clash. Shelton took out defending champion and seven-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz in an epic quarterfinal that ended at 3:34am on Wednesday – the latest finish in tournament history. The winner will take on either top-seeded French Open champion Alexander Zverev or unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov.

Source: www.aljazeera.com