History Made at Flushing Meadows: Top Four Seeds Storm into US Open Semifinals as Gauff Survives Thriller
The 2025 US Open women’s singles draw has produced a rare feat: for the first time since Wimbledon in 2009, the top four seeds have all advanced to the semifinals at a Grand Slam. Top seed Aryna Sabalenka and third seed Jessica Pegula punched their tickets on Tuesday, while second seed Coco Gauff and fourth seed Elena Rybakina completed the quartet on Wednesday. This marks only the fourth time in the Open era that the top four women’s seeds have reached the last four at a major, and the first in over a decade.
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Gauff’s path to the semifinals was anything but straightforward. The 22-year-old American battled past a determined opponent in a tense three-setter, saving two match points in a dramatic tie-break before dominating the decider. A double fault at the start of the tie-break seemed ominous, but Gauff kept her composure and turned the match around. This is Gauff’s second consecutive Grand Slam semifinal and her first in New York since winning the title in 2023. She is now two wins away from a second major title of the season, having already claimed the Australian Open in January. “I’m just fighting for every point,” Gauff said after the match. “I knew I had to stay aggressive and believe in myself.”
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Rybakina, the reigning Olympic champion, has staged a remarkable comeback herself. After elbow surgery in July 2025 dropped her out of the top 100, she navigated three qualifying rounds to reach the main draw and has now registered her first Grand Slam main-draw win since last year’s French Open. The 2022 Wimbledon champion is aiming to become just the sixth woman since 1988 to win both hard-court majors in the same season, and she also has her sights set on the world No. 1 ranking. Standing in her way is Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, who remains on course for a rare US Open three-peat—a feat only Chris Evert and Serena Williams have achieved in the Open era. A win over Pegula would send Sabalenka into an eighth consecutive hard
Shimanta Das 
