Just when Coco Gauff thought she was back in control of her semifinal bout with Elena Rybakina, she wasn’t.
In front of a fired-up, sold-out crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the second of two US Open women’s semifinals saw the No. 2 seed Rybakina defeat the No. 4 seed Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Gauff started strong, which was no surprise as she came into Thursday on a heater – winning 11 straight matches. Behind a strong service game, the 22-year-old cruised to a 6-3 first-set win over Rybakina. With former first lady Michelle Obama looking on and a very pro-American crowd cheering for Gauff, the US star never faced a break point and only lost four points on her first serve while her opponent hit 18 unforced errors.
But the Russian-born Kazakhstani showed why she will be the world’s new No. 1 come Monday with a red hot start to open the second set.
After jumping out to a 4-1 lead, the American fought back, eventually tying the score at 4-4 with the crowd urging her on.
