The 2026 U.S. Open tennis tournament is underway, with semifinals action beginning Thursday in New York City.On the men’s side, American Ben Shelton looks to build off his big win over defending U.S. Open champ Carlos Alcaraz in what was the latest-finishing match in the tournament’s history early Wednesday morning.Shelton is set to face fellow American Frances Tiafoe on Friday, as both hope to become the first Black American in over half a century to reach the U.S. Open final (since Arthur Ashe in 1972).No Black American has made a major final since MaliVai Washington did it at the 1996 Wimbledon Championships.Top-seeded Alexander Zverev, meanwhile, looks to build off the momentum of three straight three-set wins in his semifinal match with Karen Khachanov on Friday.On the women’s side, American Jessica Pegula and top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka will face off on Thursday, teeing up a rematch of the 2024 final.Sabalenka hopes to take advantage of her strong head-to-head record against Pegula after beating her in the 2024 final as well as last year’s semis.Sabalenka is just a few steps closer to history as she looks to become the first woman since Serena Williams to win three straight U.S. Open titles.Former U.S. Open champ Coco Gauff, too, has her eyes on the prize again with hopes of defeating new World No. 1 Elena Rybakina on Thursday.Pegula, Sabalenka, Gauff and Rybakina advancing marks the first time since 2009 (Wimbledon) that the top four seeds in the women’s bracket have moved onto the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament.It hasn’t happened at the U.S. Open in over 50 years.The U.S. Open is known to attract big names, including President Donald Trump, who has made a habit of positioning himself next to major sports events as he faces abysmal poll numbers amid his unpopular Iran war.It’s unclear whether Trump, whose appearance at last year’s men’s final prompted boos in Arthur Ashe Stadium, will return to his home borough of Queens when this year’s final goes down on Sunday.Check out our coverage below:This NBA Champ Is Courtside At The U.S. Open — But Not For The Reason You ThinkNew York Knicks guard Landry Shamet was spotted sitting courtside right by the net in the Big Apple, but for a totally different reason than his NBA career.Shamet, who helped bring his team a long-awaited title back in June, is taking shots of tennis stars as a credentialed photographer at this year’s U.S. Open, the New York Post reported Tuesday.On Tuesday, he was seen in the photo pit during Jessica Pegula’s win in the quarterfinals over Emma Navarro at Arthur Ashe Stadium.Shamet previously worked an unpaid photography gig for the U.S. Tennis Association, the tournament’s organizer. In 2024, he covered the first week of the Grand Slam tournament before he was asked to return to capture the women’s and men’s finals last year, The Associated Press reports.Shamet — who has taken a special interest in photography, much like other athletes whose proximity to sports led to careers in the field — told the AP last year that he can’t “foresee a day” where he puts his camera down since he first picked it up.“Even when we go on the road, I always have a camera with me, just to have,” said Shamet, who took snaps during the Knicks’ championship parade in June.“So whether it’s just like as a hobby, walking around, shooting stuff that I like to maybe print out and put on the wall in my house or doing things like this, it’ll always be there.”Latest Live Updates'IDGAF If You Don't Like Me': Naomi Osaka Claps Back At Critics Of Her Fashion GameNaomi Osaka on Tuesday served up a response to people criticizing her fashion game at this year’s U.S. Open.“You know… idgaf if you don’t like me,” wrote the women’s tennis superstar in a post to her Threads account.“I don’t mind being the first to do something and getting trashed for it.”Read more:These 4 Women's Tennis Stars Just Pulled Off Something Historic At The U.S. OpenNEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka will bid to move one step closer to a third straight U.S. Open title when she faces familiar foe Jessica Pegula in Thursday’s semi-finals, while Elena Rybakina will take on home favorite Coco Gauff in the other last-four clash.For the first time since Wimbledon in 2009, all four top seeds at a Grand Slam have reached the semifinals, with Sabalenka, Rybakina and Gauff all former major champions and third seed Pegula seeking a maiden Grand Slam title.Sabalenka has reached the U.S. Open semi-finals for a sixth consecutive year and is now two wins away from becoming the first woman since Serena Williams from 2012 to 2014 to win three straight titles in New York.The Belarusian had not dropped a set before surviving her toughest test of the tournament on Tuesday, edging Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova 7-6(1) 3-6 7-6(10-7).The 28-year-old will face a familiar opponent in third seed Pegula, with their rivalry returning to Flushing Meadows for a third straight year after Sabalenka denied the American the title in 2024 and then beat her again in last year’s semi-finals.Sabalenka leads their head-to-head 9-4 but Pegula has won two of their last three encounters, including a victory in the Berlin Open semi-finals earlier this year in which she took the deciding set 6-0.“I think it’s fun to look at the rivalry we’ve had. She’s gotten me here the last couple of years,” Pegula said. “I have been able to beat her a few times, maybe on a smaller stage, so I think that’s going to be kind of a hurdle for me to get over.”Pegula advanced by fighting back to beat fellow American Emma Navarro 3-6 6-4 6-3, reaching her second major semi-final this year after the Australian Open.The 32-year-old has also reached five finals this season, the most on the WTA Tour.Sabalenka will enter Thursday’s semi-final after surrendering top spot in the world rankings, which Rybakina secured with her quarter-final victory over Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen on Wednesday.The Australian Open winner will become the 30th woman to top the WTA rankings and the first from Kazakhstan to reach world number one when the new rankings are released after the tournament.Sabalenka, who had held the top spot since October 2024, said she would gladly trade it for another U.S. Open title.“I’ll be more than happy,” she said. “Yes, three-peat. Sounds great.” HOME FAVORITE FACES NEW WORLD NUMBER ONERybakina’s reward for reaching the semi-finals for the first time in New York is a meeting with fan-favorite Gauff, who produced a stunning comeback to beat fifth seed and fellow French Open winner Mirra Andreeva 2-6 7-6(7) 6-2.The 2023 U.S. Open champion was on the brink of defeat in the second set before saving two match points and turning the match around.Gauff’s victory put her into the semi-finals at a second straight Grand Slam after her run to the last four at Wimbledon, and she will have the home crowd behind her as she bids to clinch a second U.S. Open title.Rybakina will bid for a third Grand Slam title, while Gauff will have revenge on her mind after the Kazakh beat her in three sets in last month’s Canadian Open semi-finals. The pair are tied 1-1 in their previous meetings and will face off for a place in Saturday’s final.U.S. OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON THURSDAY (prefix number denotes seeding):ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM (7:00 p.m. ET)No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v. No. 3 Jessica Pegula (U.S.)No. 4 Coco Gauff (U.S.) v. No. 2 Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan)—(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)Top-Seeded Zverev Sails Into U.S. Open SemisNEW YORK (AP) — Alexander Zverev’s rocky road to start the U.S. Open turned into smooth sailing to the semifinals.The No. 1 seed beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday night, putting him into the final four of every Grand Slam tournament this season.The French Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up will play Friday against Karen Khachanov, while Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe meet in the other semifinal.Zverev became the first men’s No. 1 seed to play five-set matches in each of the first two rounds of a major in the Open era, which began in 1968. But he won his last three matches in straight sets and is the only man to reach all four major semis this year.After playing more than 4 1/2 hours in each of the first two rounds, Zverev hasn’t been on the court more than 2 1/2 in his last three matches.“In other tournaments I would have been out in the first round but here I can fight back and play best-of-five, play 4 1/2 hours and somehow win the match and somehow get into the tournament,” Zverev said. “And then I start playing better throughout the tournament and definitely happy to be in the semifinals here, but of course I want to go further.”He went to the final in 2020 but blew a two-set lead against Dominic Thiem. That was the closest he would come to a major title until his victory this year at Roland Garros and the German now is 23-2 in Grand Slam matches this season.“He’s been in top-five for so many years,” Khachanov said. “This year he did also step forward. He won his first Grand Slam, played the final in Wimbledon, as well. I mean, he’s coming up really in hot form, let’s say.”Khachanov got at least to the third round of every major this year and this time has gone three rounds further. He was prepared to go through a tough test Wednesday but Alexander Blockx’s body wasn’t up for one.Blockx stopped playing in the third set because of injuries to his leg, ribs and back, sending Khachanov to his third Grand Slam semifinal.“I think my body just gave up,” Blockx said.Khachanov won the first two sets 6-2 and 7-5, and the No. 28 seed from Belgium decided it was time to stop after Khachanov broke his serve to take a 3-2 lead in the third.“I was preparing really, really well for that matchup. It’s not easy really to play because from one side I was feeling I was dominating from the beginning, then I started to feel like he was struggling more and more,” Khachanov said, adding he saw that Blockx was “suffering all over his body.”Khachanov is seeking his first major final. The Russian got to the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 2022 and the Australian Open in 2023.Khachanov was unseeded in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2018 after a strange season. He reached at least the third round of all four majors for the first time but is just 10-15 in other events, with losses in the opening rounds of all three hard-court events before coming to New York.Blockx said he nearly stopped in his last match because of his injuries. As he got treatment for multiple body parts Wednesday, he said ne was neither upset nor angry.“To be honest, during the match, it was quite funny to me. I just had to laugh it off, because it was just something new the whole time,” he said. “I think it was just my body that started compensating as well. I was starting to do different motions than I usually do just to avoid the pain.”___See AP’s full tennis coverage here'I'm Going to Keep Fighting': Coco Gauff Rallies To Reach U.S. Open SemisNEW YORK (AP) — Coco Gauff knows what she is up against in her U.S. Open semifinal against Elena Rybakina, whose firepower has vaulted her to the top of the tennis rankings.“I know I’m going to have some aces hit on me and some winners hit on me, but I’m going to keep fighting and give it my all,” Gauff said. “That’s all I can do.”That’s how Gauff earned her first title in Flushing Meadows and why she’s still in the running for another.Gauff fought off a couple match points in a tiebreaker and beat Mirra Andreeva 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Wednesday to set up matchup against the new No. 1 in women’s tennis.Gauff overcame a horrible start to give herself a chance at a second U.S. Open trophy. She won the tournament in 2023, when she had to shake off a similar rough beginning against Aryna Sabalenka in the final.Andreeva, the French Open champion, won the first seven points and took the first set in 26 minutes before the No. 4-seeded Gauff regrouped. She said during the break after the first set she thought about fellow American Frances Tiafoe, who came from two sets down in his quarterfinal match a day earlier.“So, honestly I was just trying to literally leave the court with no regrets,” Gauff said.Rybakina edged Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 earlier Wednesday, guaranteeing she will become No. 1 in the WTA rankings after the tournament.The top-ranked Sabalenka faces No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the other semifinal Thursday. But no matter what happens in the remaining matches, Rybakina will end Sabalenka’s 99-week stay at No. 1 when the new rankings are released Monday.“It’s just a number right now and of course I’m in the semis so my goal is to win the tournament,” Rybakina said. “It’s an amazing achievement but you know how quick everything can change in tennis, ranking-wise, during the match, so I feel like I just need to focus on my game, try to recover and enjoy tomorrow.”It’s the first time since 1975 that all four of the women’s top seeds reached the U.S. Open semifinals.Gauff won a 39-shot rally to take a 5-3 lead in the tiebreaker, but Andreeva took the next three points to earn her first match point. Gauff erased that when the Russian sent a forehand long, then stopped Andreeva’s second chance at 7-6.Then it was mostly all Gauff in the third set en route to her seventh Grand Slam semifinal.Rybakina struggles with an early start after the US Open’s latest finishRybakina and Zheng were scheduled to start about eight hours after Ben Shelton finished off his victory over defending champion Carlos Alcaraz at 3:33 a.m., the latest finish in U.S. Open history.Rybakina said she struggled with the sun and shadows in Arthur Ashe Stadium early on after starting later in the day in her previous matches.Zheng capitalized on Rybakina’s early struggles to get her only break of the match against one of the best servers in women’s tennis and take a 5-3 lead in the first set.But Zheng, who had been playing from behind so much in Flushing Meadows, couldn’t hold onto the lead and Rybakina rolled through the second set in 38 minutes.Zheng, the 2024 Olympic gold medalist from China, had to come through the qualifying tournament just to make the main draw after elbow surgery dropped her down the rankings to her current place of No. 121. Once ranked No. 4, she is guaranteed to move back into the top 60.She made a dramatic run to the quarterfinals, erasing a 5-0 deficit in the third set against Madison Keys in the third round and then climbing out of another 5-0 hole in the first set in her fourth-round victory over No. 8-seed Iga Swiatek.But a double-fault gave her opponent a 5-4 lead in the third set and Rybakina served it out to reach the U.S. Open semifinals for the first time.“I think the wins that I had so far are great, but obviously today in the match I got a lot of chances in the third set, but I didn’t take it,” Zheng said. “That was a bit pity for me to lose this match, but obviously I could take positive things from U.S. Open this year.”Rybakina came into the tournament needing only to reach the semifinals to ensure she would move past Sabalenka. Had the 27-year-old from Kazakhstan lost before the final four, Sabalenka, Pegula or Gauff could have been No. 1 next week by winning the tournament.Setting up the men’s semifinalsKaren Khachanov reached his third Grand Slam semifinal when No. 28 seed Alexander Blockx stopped playing midway through the third set after Khachanov had won the first two. Blockx had his upper left leg wrapped and received treatment on both his lower leg and back as well.Khachanov, who reached the semis at the U.S. Open in 2022 and the 2023 Australian Open, will play top-seeded Alexander Zverev in one semifinal match Friday. Shelton and Tiafoe will square off in an all-American semifinal match.___See AP’s full tennis coverage here'What About Me?' Ben Shelton Forgets Athlete Girlfriend After U.S. Open Win Over AlcarazBen Shelton shouted out to his sister and best friend in the stands after his win over Carlos Alcaraz at the U.S. Open early Wednesday ― but failed to mention his girlfriend, U.S. soccer star Trinity Rodman, who was also in attendance.Women's Star Secures World No. 1 Ranking At The U.S. OpenNEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Second seed Elena Rybakina ended Chinese qualifier Zheng Qinwen’s stirring U.S. Open run with a 3-6 6-1 6-4 victory on Wednesday, advancing to the semifinals and securing the world number one ranking for the first time.The Australian Open winner, who will replace Aryna Sabalenka at the top of the rankings when they are updated after the tournament, recovered from a slow start and struck 20 winners as she gradually broke down Zheng’s resistance.Olympic champion Zheng, forced to go through qualifying after a chronic elbow injury disrupted her career, wrote a fine comeback story in New York and exited the court to applause from the crowd.Rybakina will next play either fifth seed Mirra Andreeva or 2023 winner Coco Gauff.Zheng saved five break points in a marathon ninth game before closing out the opening set, but her level dipped in the second set as the Australian Open winner grabbed the momentum. Zheng produced only one winner in the set, compared with 10 from her opponent.Zheng had done some of her best work in New York when her back was against the wall and she saved three break points in the penultimate game of the third set, but Rybakina’s pressure finally told as Zheng surrendered the decisive break with a double fault. (Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)These courts will make her feel brand new (world No.1) 🗽Elena Rybakina defeats Zheng 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the US Open semifinals and clinch the WTA’s top spot! pic.twitter.com/vA4KKSLYZc— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 9, 2026The U.S. Open Is Burning The Midnight Oil With Record-Breaking Finishes This YearNEW YORK (AP) — The late-night action at the U.S. Open has now reached an extreme.Ben Shelton’s five-set thriller to beat reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals ended at 3:33 a.m. Wednesday, leaving few people awake to see the 4 1/2-hour marathon reach its finale on one of the sport’s biggest stages. That only added to the list of early-morning finishes that had already stirred frustration and concerns about how organizers were managing the schedule at the Grand Slam event with numerous matches straying well past night-owl hours.Players have long loved the electricity of playing night matches under the lights in the nation’s biggest city. But the tournament had already set a record with three post-2 a.m. finishes over the first six days, as well as having two other matches go past 1 a.m.That had included Venus Williams being subjected to the latest start in U.S. Open history at 12:13 a.m., after it took 4 hours, 36 minutes for Novak Djokovic to get knocked out in the first round.“It’s not ideal,” Williams said at the time.Shelton himself had a four-set second-round win against Denis Shapovalov that ended at 2:07 a.m.Then came Tuesday night — well, Wednesday morning.Shelton, a 23-year-old from Atlanta seeded No. 8, earned a massive win in his young career to reach his third major semifinal by taking down the second-seeded Alcaraz 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7). He closed the fifth-set tiebreak with a 146-mph ace and ended the reigning champion’s 18-match winning streak in Grand Slam tournaments.It ended with Arthur Ashe Stadium perhaps one-third full at what became the latest-finishing match in U.S. Open history.“We’re going to break the record,” TV announcer John McEnroe said. “It’s going to be the latest finish in U.S. Open history, and we are here to witness it.”This one set up an all-American semifinal matchup with 11th-seeded Frances Tiafoe, with the U.S. guaranteed to have a representative in Sunday’s final as it seeks its first major men’s title since Andy Roddick won at Flushing Meadows in 2003.About 5 1/2 hours after the match’s conclusion, the U.S. Open went to social media with a lighthearted nod to the late night, offering a fill-in-the-blank letter for fans to ask their bosses to be excused from work Wednesday.“We understand how important showing up is, but sometimes you have to make time for things you’re passionate about,” the post on X stated. “Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton put on an absolute stellar performance during their US Open quarterfinal, and ______ was a fully committed fan who was completely locked in from start to finish.”___See AP’s full tennis coverage hereAlcaraz Loss Means This U.S. Open 'Curse' Is Still Alive, Fans SayCarlos Alcaraz’s early-morning loss to Ben Shelton on Wednesday spelled the end to his bid for back-to-back U.S. Open titles, but it marked the continuation of a so-called curse that’s haunted champions in the men’s bracket since 2009.In the 17 years since Argentina’s Juan Martín del Potro defeated Roger Federer in the ’09 final, bringing the tennis legend’s run of five straight U.S. Open titles to an end, no man has repeated as singles champion.A win that year would have made Federer the only man in the Open era with six titles.He also would have been the first to win six titles since Bill Tilden did it in the amateur era (when no professional tennis players were in the tournament) back in 1925.Federer recently described falling in the ’09 final as a “big regret” of his, noting that he knew he’d never get the opportunity back and “missed out on so many chances” throughout the match.Tennis fans remarked on the title defense curse on Reddit, with one user writing that they thought Alcaraz would finally break it after coming back from injury.“I guess some things are meant to stay,” the user wrote. “Del Potro put a curse on that court on that fateful day in 2009 and things haven’t been the same ever since.”'A Great Guy': Tiafoe Gives Michelsen A Shoulder To Cry On In Emotional U.S. Open MomentNEW YORK (AP) — Frances Tiafoe knew Alex Michelsen needed a shoulder to cry on.So after handing his fellow American a crushing defeat in the U.S. Open quarterfinals Tuesday, Tiafoe held Michelsen in a long embrace while the 22-year-old sobbed into his shoulder.“I really like Alex. I really, really do, and I just wanted to come up there and just dap him up,” Tiafoe said. “I didn’t think it was going to be as long as it was, but I understand the moment. He was definitely crying on my shoulders. Yeah, we just had some words for each other, and that was it.”Michelsen was playing in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal and was just a few points from winning it after taking the first two sets. The No. 11-seeded Tiafoe came back to win 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (10-6), starting his turnaround after Michelsen failed to serve out the match with a 5-4 lead in the third set.Michelsen said he didn’t speak much when they met at the net.“I was trying to keep it together and I didn’t do a good job of that,” Michelsen said. “He was saying a lot of nice personal things. ‘You’ll be there. When I’m older, you’re going to be here, and we’re going to play it again in this type of circumstance.’ All that good stuff. He’s a great guy for consoling me in that moment.”This was the third pro match between the two, with Tiafoe winning both previous encounters. Michelsen said after his fourth-round victory that Tiafoe was an “unbelievable guy and a very good friend of mine,” and said similar after Tuesday’s defeat.“I don’t think anyone else could have made me cry in that moment, to be honest,” Michelsen said.Tiafoe is 28, one of the leaders of American men’s tennis and a fan favorite at the U.S. Open, where he has reached his third semifinal. He said Sunday in looking ahead to the match that he had developed a good relationship with Michelsen.Jessica Pegula said she watched the end of the match before she took the court for her quarterfinal victory over Emma Navarro.“Just seeing Alex hug him at the end, I started crying in the locker room,” the No. 3-ranked American said. “It was so heartbreaking. My heart hurt so much.”Michelsen left the court with a towel on his head, raising his arm to acknowledge the cheers from the crowd. Tiafoe told those fans what he thought of Michelsen’s performance.“I mean, he easily could have won today so shout out to Alex Michelsen,” Tiafoe said.___See AP’s full tennis coverage hereU.S. Open Preview: Gauff Faces Andreeva, Zverev To Battle Van de Zandschulp On WednesdayNEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Elena Rybakina‘s bid for the world number one ranking takes center stage on Wednesday when the U.S. Open quarterfinals continue, while home favorite Coco Gauff faces fellow French Open winner Mirra Andreeva and top seed Alexander Zverev plays Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.Rybakina can move to the top of the rankings by reaching the semi-finals but standing in her way is the tournament’s comeback queen Qinwen Zheng, who has fought back from two 0-5 deficits in the previous rounds and a match point down to reach the last eight as a qualifier.TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: RYBAKINA v. ZHENGRybakina has been relentless in New York, reaching the quarter-finals without dropping a set and losing just 25 games.The Australian Open champion has also won four of her five meetings with Zheng, including both of their matches this year in Madrid and Doha.But Zheng, ranked 121st after falling out of the top 100 following elbow surgery, has rediscovered the form that took her to Olympic gold in 2024 and a career-high ranking of fourth.The 23-year-old fought back from 0-5 against Madison Keys, saving a match point before securing victory, then rallied from the same deficit again on Monday against six-times major winner Iga Swiatek to prevail 7-5 6-3.“She definitely found her form and I feel like she’s playing now with a lot of confidence after so many wins in a row, so she’s very dangerous,” Rybakina said.TOP MEN’S MATCH: ZVEREV v. VAN DE ZANDSCHULPZverev has recovered from a brutal start to his campaign, when he spent almost 10 hours on court across back-to-back five-setters, to win his last two matches in straight sets.The French Open champion, who was runner-up in New York in 2020, could become only the fourth man to win his first two Grand Slam titles in the same calendar year since the professional era began in 1968.But Van de Zandschulp is coming off a marathon of his own, having saved a match point and fought back from two sets down to beat lucky loser Arthur Gea in five hours and 13 minutes, the fourth-longest match in U.S. Open history. The Dutchman is back in the quarter-finals in Flushing Meadows after his 2021 breakthrough run.“I think this is probably even better than the first quarter-final I made here,” Van de Zandschulp said.GAUFF FACES ANDREEVAGauff brings a 10-match winning streak and 20 consecutive sets into her quarter-final against reigning French Open champion Andreeva, after making it back to the last eight in her home slam for the first time since winning the title in 2023.The fourth seed has won all five of their previous meetings, and will look to overcome the Russian fifth seed in her quest for a third Grand Slam title.U.S. OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON WEDNESDAY (prefix number denotes seeding):ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM (11:30 a.m. ET)No. 2 Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) v. Qinwen Zheng (China)No. 5 Mirra Andreeva (Russia) v. No. 4 Coco Gauff (U.S.)Karen Khachanov (Russia) v No. 28 Alexander Blockx (Belgium)(7:30 p.m. ET)No. 1 Alexander Zverev (Germany) v Botic van de Zandschulp (Netherlands)(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in New York; Editing by Clare Fallon)See All Updates