American Coco Gauff faces Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the U.S. Open final on Saturday, seeking her first Grand Slam singles title.
Gauff, the sixth seed, beat No. 10 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the semifinals — enduring a 49-minute delay as a protester glued his feet to the ground — to reach her second major final.
Gauff, the 2022 French Open runner-up, became at age 19 the youngest player to reach a second major singles final since Maria Sharapova in 2006 and the youngest American to do so since Andrea Jaeger in 1983.
On Saturday, she will bid to end the longest Grand Slam singles title drought in U.S. history — since Sofia Kenin won the 2020 Australian Open, the last major before the COVID-19 pandemic paused sports.
MORE: U.S. Open Men’s Draw
Gauff is already the youngest American to make a U.S. Open semi since Serena Williams won the first of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles in 1999.
Gauff rolled into the U.S. Open with an 11-1 record in the U.S. summer hard-court swing, bagging the two biggest tournament titles of her career and beating No. 1 Iga Swiatek for the first time.
Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, will take over as the world No. 1 after the tournament, no matter what happens Saturday, after Swiatek was bounced in the fourth round.
Sabalenka was the only player to reach the quarterfinals without dropping a set and lost a total of 21 games in five matches before a 0-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5) win over American Madison Keys in the semifinals.
2023 U.S. Open Women’s Singles Draw
