RYBAKINA 3-6 6-4 6-4 GAUFF. LOCKS US OPEN FINAL VS SABALENKA.

NEW YORK — Elena Rybakina is into the US Open final. The No. 2 seed rallies from a set down and beats home favourite Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday night, 10 September 2026, on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Match time: 2 hours, 8 minutes (WTA news 4574995). She books a Saturday title showdown with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka — next opponent sourced, final winner HOLD. PATH /sport/us-open-rybakina-gauff-sf. DESK_ID us-open-rybakina-gauff-sf.

This Extra is the semifinal RESULT file. It is not the Rybakina–Zheng No.1 QF Extra and not the Gauff–Andreeva QF Extra. Do not merge bodies.

3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Rybakina into the final. Sabalenka next. Saturday winner HOLD.

Locked scoreboard. Score: Rybakina d. Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Round: women’s singles semifinal, US Open 2026. Venue colour: Arthur Ashe Stadium (WTA / Reuters). Duration: 2:08 (WTA 4574995). Final opponent: Aryna Sabalenka (WTA / Reuters — Sabalenka d. Pegula 7-5, 6-2 earlier). Ranking frame: day after securing World No. 1 clinch (prior QF Extra) — official PIF listing next week.

Reuters (11 Sep 2026 / New York dateline Sep 10) and WTA 4574995 print the same three-set line. ABC and The Guardian corroborate. Extra invents no mid-match scripts beyond those boards.

How the match ran (circuit colour only). Gauff takes the opening set 6-3 with a lone break, helped by 18 unforced errors from Rybakina (WTA). Former first lady Michelle Obama is in the stands (WTA / Reuters). Rybakina cuts errors, builds 4-1 in the second, survives Gauff levelling at 4-4, then breaks again in the 10th game to take the set 6-4.

In the decider Rybakina misses two break points in the sixth game, converts in the eighth for 5-3, then watches Gauff break back with a backhand pass. Rybakina breaks right back to close 6-4 (WTA 4574995). Career H2H vs Gauff moves to 2-1; 2026 record vs Americans 10-0 (WTA).

Quoted lines (WTA / Reuters only — no invent). Rybakina after the win (WTA): “Very close match. Super happy, proud … definitely very happy and proud.” On nerves in set one (Reuters): she felt a good start that was one break, then “took a deep breath” and talked herself into better tennis. To the Ashe crowd (Reuters): she knows they wanted Coco; a few moments went her way; she stayed focused and aggressive.

Gauff (WTA media): Rybakina played really well; it came down to a couple of her service games in both sets she did not hold; Rybakina puts pressure on serve and return and “held the line a bit better.” Looking ahead to Sabalenka (WTA): Rybakina calls her aggressive, big serve, tight scores — she must bring her best serve and make the right decisions. Extra does not invent a final score.

Path notes (sourced). Rybakina becomes only the fifth player in the past two decades to reach both Australian Open and US Open finals in a calendar year, joining Henin (2006), Azarenka (2012–13), Kerber (2016) and Sabalenka (2023–25) — WTA. Saturday is the pair’s third Grand Slam final meeting; Sabalenka leads the career H2H 10-7 including Miami SF this season (WTA). Since 1988, two players meet in both AO and USO finals in a season for just the second time after Graf–Sanchez Vicario in 1994 (WTA / US Open social as cited by WTA). Gauff’s exit, with Pegula’s earlier SF loss, means no American woman in a Grand Slam final this year — first time since 2006 (Reuters).

Still discipline. Hero: Ocoudis / Wikimedia Commons (CC0) — Rybakina practice, US Open 2024. Caption MUST say 2024 practice, not 2026 SF. Secondary rights-clear options on desk: Nrbelex Gauff practice 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); Hameltion Rybakina serve 2022 (CC BY-SA 4.0). Reuters/Getty SF night stills not rights-cleared for Extra reuse. VIDEO=no — prefer later if USTA/WTA rights-clear clip lands; none locked this pass. No AI match invent.

CLAIM vs CONFIRMED. CONFIRMED: Rybakina d. Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Ashe; 2:08; final vs Sabalenka sourced (WTA 4574995 / Reuters). HOLD Sat final winner — invent nothing. Quotes only from WTA/Reuters attributed lines. Distinct from us-open-rybakina-zheng-no1-qf, us-open-gauff-andreeva-qf, us-open-sabalenka-pegula-sf. FALSE framing — do not use: “Nth Meridian invents Saturday’s champion.” VIDEO=no. Nailed down, 11 September 2026, 08:42 GMT. PATH /sport/us-open-rybakina-gauff-sf. DESK_ID us-open-rybakina-gauff-sf. Beat SPORT / RESULT EXTRA. PHOTO: Ocoudis / Wikimedia Commons (CC0). NTH MERIDIAN does not invent scores.

DESK_ID us-open-rybakina-gauff-sf. Canonical /sport/us-open-rybakina-gauff-sf. Filed 11 September 2026, 08:42 GMT. RESULT locked. Verification: WTA www.wtatennis.com/news/4574995/rybakina-rallies-past-gauff-sets-up-sabalenka-showdown-in-final ; Reuters www.reuters.com/sports/tennis/rybakina-beats-gauff-book-us-open-final-against-sabalenka-2026-09-11/ — verification only, do not republish. Photo: Ocoudis / Wikimedia Commons (CC0) — 2024 practice, not 2026 SF. Distinct from rybakina-zheng QF and gauff-andreeva QF. VIDEO=no. AdSense untouched. NTH MERIDIAN does not invent scores.