A Moment Five Decades in the Making
For the first time since 1975, the top four seeds in the women's singles draw at the US Open have all reached the semi-finals. Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, and Coco Gauff each battled through three-set matches to set up a pair of blockbuster showdowns in New York. When Gauff found out she was part of this rare group, her reaction was simple: "Oh, wow." It is also the first time any Grand Slam has seen its top four women's seeds reach the semis since Wimbledon in 2009, signaling a possible shift toward a more settled pecking order after years of remarkable unpredictability. Since 2020, 13 different players have won Grand Slam women's singles titles, a striking contrast to just seven on the men's side during the same span.
Two Compelling Matchups on Thursday
Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, faces Pegula in the first semi-final. The pair have met 13 times on the tour, including the 2024 final and last year's semi-finals in New York, both of which Sabalenka won. Pegula remains the only player left in the women's draw without a Grand Slam title to her name, and she has spoken openly about how their rivalry has made her a sharper competitor. Sabalenka, meanwhile, is chasing history: a third consecutive US Open crown would make her the first woman to achieve that feat since Serena Williams did it between 2012 and 2014. The second semi-final pits Rybakina, set to become the new world number one on Monday, against home crowd favorite Gauff. With stakes this high across both matches, TennisDraw users will want to lock in their bracket picks before Thursday night's action gets underway.
