Coco Gauff Stages Epic Comeback to Reach US Open Semi-Finals
Coco Gauff stared down defeat, twice, and refused to blink.
The defending US Open champion dug herself out of a deep hole on Arthur Ashe Stadium, saving two match points and overturning a one-set deficit to beat Mirra Andreeva 2-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-2 and reach the semi-finals in New York. Next up: incoming world number one Elena Rybakina, in a heavyweight clash that feels worthy of a final.
From rout to resurrection
For 26 brutal minutes, Gauff barely landed a punch.
Andreeva, fearless and precise, tore through the opening set 6-2, rushing the fourth seed, taking time away, and silencing a crowd that arrived expecting a coronation, not a crisis. Gauff’s forehand misfired, her serve wobbled, and the teenager across the net looked utterly unfazed by the stage.
The second set turned messy. And tense. Gauff twice went up a break, twice lost the advantage. Errors crept in from both sides, rhythm dissolved, and the match drifted into a psychological scrap rather than a clean showcase of shot-making.
But Gauff stayed in the fight. That was the hinge.
The set bled into a tie-break that stretched to 16 points, each one dragging the noise levels higher. Gauff faced those two match points and stared them down, the crowd on its feet, the air thick with that peculiar New York urgency. Andreeva blinked first. Gauff snatched the breaker 9-7, and with it, the whole tone of the night changed.
What had been a rescue mission suddenly became a statement.
Tiafoe’s echo and a New York surge
As the match turned, Gauff pointed to a source of inspiration close to home. Frances Tiafoe had staged his own comeback on the same courts the previous evening, rallying past Alex Michelsen, and that performance lingered in her mind when her own situation looked bleak.
"At the end of the first set I was thinking about Frances and how he came back yesterday," she said afterward. "We all want to do well in front of this crowd. Honestly, I was just trying to leave the court with no regrets."
Once she escaped the second set, the third belonged to her.
Backed by a partisan crowd that roared at every surge of momentum, Gauff tightened her game, cut out the loose errors, and imposed her athleticism. The rallies grew longer, the court coverage more punishing. Andreeva, who had been so sharp early, started to fade under the weight of Gauff’s consistency and the noise raining down from the stands.
The American raced through the decider 6-2, her resilience and composure finally overwhelming an opponent who had come within a point, twice, of the biggest win of her career.
A loaded last four
This run puts Gauff into back-to-back Grand Slam semi-finals and marks her first final-four appearance in New York since she lifted the trophy in 2023. It also underlines just how stacked the business end of this tournament has become.
With Gauff joining top seed Aryna Sabalenka, third seed Jessica Pegula and second seed Elena Rybakina in the last four, the US Open boasts its strongest possible line-up. It is the first time the top four seeds have all reached the semi-finals of a women’s major since Wimbledon in 2009 — a rarity in an era defined by volatility at the top.
Rybakina had to dig deep of her own earlier in the day. The incoming world number one dropped a set for the first time this fortnight and even stared at a break-point deficit in the decider against Zheng Qinwen, but she reset and powered through 3-6 6-1 6-4. It was a reminder of her steel as much as her shot-making.
Now she stands between Gauff and a return to the US Open final.
One saved match point can define a fortnight. Two can reshape a season. In a semi-final loaded with ranking significance, home pressure, and recent history, which will matter more in New York — Rybakina’s relentless rise, or Gauff’s refusal to go quietly?
