US Open: How the women brought the fire that was missing from a tired men’s side
If you look at this year’s US Open, it was a far cry from the quality and fight we’ve seen over the years. Last year, the dominant duo of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner fought their way to the final, and the Spaniard won the title.
On the women’s side, it was another dominant run to the title by Aryna Sabalenka as Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula and Naomi Osaka pushed her to the finish. The battle for the number 1 spot was also taking place in the background, which happened again this year.
US OPEN 2026: FULL NEWS
In addition, the competition for female stars seems to be tighter than that of male stars. Coco Gauff was tested in her quarterfinal bout against Mirra Andreeva, but she dug deep into her arsenal and found victory. Qinwen Zheng was a Cinderella story this time around, coming back from adversity to defeat the likes of Madison Keys and former world number one Iga Swiatek.
But on the men’s side, there seemed to be a lack of plot and plot twists. So here’s a look at how the women in Flushing Meadows actually beat the men.
LACK OF STAR DUST
When the schedule came out and the names slowly filtered in, there was a big void left for the men in the form of Jannik Sinner. The Italian had to withdraw after failing to recover from injury.
Then you had Carlos Alcaraz, who was just coming back from a long injury layoff. Suddenly it looked like it was top 10 hunting season and anyone could become champion.
However, the opposite happened. And fatigue was to blame for everything.
By the time the fourth round came around, six of the top 10 on the men’s side were gone. Novak Djokovic’s ailing body let him down in the first round.
Third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime was eliminated in the second round and his loss was reduced to a dizzying amount. Fifth seed Flavio Cobolli admitted that fatigue played a major role in his loss in the third round, with the intense heat in New York adding to the demanding course of matches.
Arthur Fils, fresh from a triumph in Cincinnati, was eliminated in the opening round by former world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas. Meanwhile, teenager Rafael Jodar also appeared to be struggling physically and made an early exit after enduring a workload of more than 50 games in his first full season on tour.
The women’s singles draw followed a much more predictable path compared to the chaos on the men’s side.
Eleven of the top 16 seeds have advanced to the fourth round, with defending champion Aryna Sabalenkova and Australian Open winner Elena Rybakina among the leaders.
Both advanced without dropping a set, while third seed Jessica Pegula and fourth seed Coco Gauff also advanced comfortably. French Open champion Mirra Andreeva and Wimbledon winner Linda Nosko helped ensure that all of the top six seeds remained in the hunt for the title.
Karolina Muchova, Elina Svitolina and 2025 US Open runner-up Amanda Anisimova became the first 10 seeds to be eliminated, with all three suffering defeats in the third round.
EVERYONE CAN WIN
“It’s great for the women’s tour to have so many people who could win,” Pat Cash said.
“Anyone can win at any time – isn’t that exciting?”
The last seven Grand Slams have produced seven different champions, highlighting how much more open the women’s game has become compared to the recent dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on the men’s side.
The depth at the top is equally striking, as every player in the current top 10 has won either a Grand Slam title or a WTA 1000 title, underscoring the quality and pedigree of big matches across the leading group.
Then comes the battle for first place, which went down to the wire. Aryna Sabalenkova was eventually dethroned by Elena Rybakina, but Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff pushed both women to bring their best tennis to the court.
This saw all four reach the semi-finals, a rare feat. The US Open is set for only the second top-four semifinal lineup in the Open Era. The feat was last accomplished in 1975, when Chris Evert, Virginia Wade, Martina Navrátil and Evonne Goolagong, seeded No. 1 through No. 4, all reached the last four.
“When you look at the difference in points in the top 10 compared to the men, you can see how the depth is pretty crazy,” Pegula said.
“They’ve all been very consistent and they make it difficult (to win a Slam) to a certain extent.
“But then you know there’s not one or two super dominant players that you feel have to lose to have a chance.
US OPEN 2026 WOMEN’S SEMI-FINALS: SCHEDULE
SF1: Aryna Sabalenka vs Jessica Pegula – Friday, September 11 – 4:30
SF2: Coco Gauff vs Elena Rybakina – Friday 11 September – right after the first semi-final
US OPEN 2026 WOMEN’S SEMI-FINALS: MAIN COMPETITIONS
Sabalenka and Pegula have faced each other 13 times, with the former going 9-4. Gauff and Rybakina have faced each other twice and are currently 1-1.
US OPEN 2026 WOMEN’S SEMI-FINALS: LIVE STREAMING DETAILS
You can watch US Open 2026 Women’s Singles Semi Final on Star Sports Select 1 and Select 2 TV. Live streaming will be available on JioHotstar.
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Published on:
11 Sep 2026 0:05 AM IST