TORONTO — World No. 2 Elena Rybakina rallied to defeat Coco Gauff 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the early hours of Thursday morning to advance to the Canadian Open final. The Australian Open champion will vie in the final with six-time Slam winner Iga Świątek, who defeated Elina Svitolina in three sets in the other semifinal.For the fourth time in five matches at the Canadian Open, Rybakina needed a third set. Gauff started the semifinal strong, saving 3 break points in the opening game to hold serve. She was connecting on her groundstrokes and hitting her shots deep and down the lines. With Gauff leading 6-5 in the first set and Rybakina serving, the American was aggressive off the return. A loose service game from Rybakina paved the way for Gauff to take the opening set.With Gauff in control with her shots and serving strong, winning 72.7 percent of first-serve points in the first set, she was in position to reach her third WTA 1000 final of 2026. Rybakina had other ideas. She displayed why she’s a two-time Grand Slam champion and a dangerous player on the hard courts.
The shots she missed in the first set didn’t happen in the second. The power Rybakina demonstrated in her shots became overwhelming for Gauff, who couldn’t redirect them with the same pace and precision. Despite Rybakina’s first serve being 36.4 percent for the set, Gauff couldn’t take advantage. Gauff won just 28.6 percent of second-serve return points in the second set, highlighting a dip in shot execution compared with the first set.At 2-2 in the second set, Rybakina won four consecutive games to level the match and force a decider. The third set was more of the same. Rybakina showed her steadiness — not missing and hitting with blazing power. Gauff didn’t have the same precision with her serve and groundstrokes as at the start of the match. She won just 3 second-serve points and was broken twice in the final set, giving Rybakina a chance to serve for the match.Rybakina gave the Toronto crowd an exclamation point on her comeback as she served for the match. She saved 2 break points, including a backhand winner up the line. At deuce, she fired a 193 kph unreturnable serve. On match point, it was a 190 kph serve. All Gauff could do was send the backhand return into the net, sealing Rybakina’s win.With a win, Rybakina will be just 4 points behind Aryna Sabalenka for the world No. 1 ranking.It will be the 13th meeting between Rybakina and Świątek with the career head to head 6-6. The deadlock will be broken Thursday night with the Canadian Open title up for grabs.Aug 13, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
