Coco Gauff puts positive spin on crushing US Open semis loss to Elena Rybakina

Coco Gauff fell short in her quest to win a second title at the US Open after bowing to Elena Rybakina, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in the semifinals at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York on Thursday.

Rybakina, who is now the world No.1, proved to be too much in the deciding set of the thrilling affair, which lasted one hour and 20 minutes.

In the post-match conference, the 22-year-old Gauff said she was proud of her whole stint at Flushing Meadows, maintaining that she “played almost every match on my terms.” She added that it was a learning experience going up against seasoned players.

“I’m looking at the other women, the other semifinalists, and they’re older than me. Like three, four years older than me. I’m trying to think of how much work I put in to get here, how far I’ve come,” said Gauff.

“Now I’m just excited to keep putting in the work for another year, another two years, and see where I’m at age 24, 25 and where my game can take me. Hopefully it can be on the winning end of matches like this.”

Coco Gauff says the other women in the U.S. Open semifinals are 3 to 4 years older than her… she’s excited to keep working & see where her level is in a few years

“I think I played almost every match on my terms. The worst match for me was maybe the quarterfinal where I fell… pic.twitter.com/0NywUYHuf4

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 11, 2026

She was also eliminated in the semifinals of Wimbledon in July, losing to Karolina Muchova.

Gauff, who won the US Open in 2023, had the major support of the crowd at Flushing Meadows, which included former first lady Michelle Obama. But even that was not enough to boost her in winning time.

Gauff was the second American to fall in the semifinals after Jessica Pegula lost to Aryna Sabalenka earlier in the evening.

Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, marched to her fourth straight trip to the final of the US Open.